Baker & McKenzie Advises Volkswagen on EUR628 Million ABS Transaction in Spain
Deal Announcement
8 June 2011
Frankfurt/Main, Germany, 8 June 2011 – Baker & McKenzie advised Volkswagen Financial Services AG on the first ABS transaction of Volkswagen Finance S.A. in Spain. Under the transaction, notes with an aggregate value of EUR628.9 million were issued and backed up by auto loan receivables of Spanish borrowers. The issuer is Driver España One, Fondo de Titulización de Activos, an ABS special purpose vehicle under Spanish securitization law established in Madrid. The transaction was led by CitiBank and JP Morgan.
"This transaction is remarkable for a number of reasons. Volkswagen succeeded in implementing the typical structural elements of the German ABS brand ‘Driver’ in the Spanish legal framework, a particular challenge from a legal perspective. We benefited from the fluent cooperation between offices in Madrid, Barcelona and Frankfurt. With this transaction a significant volume was placed with the investor. This is impressive, considering the current discussions about the Spanish financial markets,” said Dr. Martin Kaiser, partner in the Frankfurt Finance group, who led the transaction together with Spanish partners Enrique Carretero and Fernando de la Mata. “It also highlighted Volkswagen's strategy to present a uniform structure to their investor base."
Dr. Kaiser added, "The implementation of the well-established Driver structure was closely coordinated with the Spanish supervisory authority, which reviews ABS transactions in detail.”
The Securities team of Baker & McKenzie advised on a large number of German and international ABS transactions, particularly in the auto sector. Frequent clients include VW Bank, VW Leasing, Porsche AG, Mercedes Bank, BMW Leasing, Toyota Kreditbank, FFS Bank, and MAN Finance International.
Legal Advisors of VW:
Baker & McKenzie
Transaction lead:
Dr. Martin Kaiser (Partner, Frankfurt), Enrique Carretero (Partner, Madrid) and Fernando de la Mata (Partner, Barcelona)
Further lawyers involved:
Pedro Aguaron (Partner, Tax, Barcelona), Johannes Rothmund (Counsel, Frankfurt), Carlos Rodriguez (Associate, Madrid); Rosa Sánchez (Associate, Barcelona)