DBRS Finalises Provisional Ratings on Taurus CMBS UK 2014-1 Limited

DBRS, Inc. (DBRS) has today finalised the provisional ratings on the following classes of Commercial Mortgage-Backed Floating-Rate Notes Due May 2022 (collectively, the Notes) issued by Taurus CMBS UK 2014-1 Limited (the Issuer):

-- Class A at A (sf)
-- Class B at BBB (sf)
-- Class C at BB (sf)

All trends are Stable.

The Issuer is a securitisation of one floating-rate loan, comprised of 13 different affiliated borrowing entities with a combined balance of £211,517,000. The loan represents a 95% pari passu interest of a larger Whole Loan totalling £222,649,898; the 5% of the Whole Loan not being securitised will be retained by the Loan Seller, Bank of America Merrill Lynch International Limited, to satisfy risk-retention requirements. The loan has an initial term of three years with two one-year extensions.

The loan is secured by 132 properties located throughout the United Kingdom, primarily in England and Wales with a few properties located in Scotland. Of the 132 properties, 94 properties are freehold, 28 properties are leasehold and ten properties are part freehold and part leasehold. The predominant property type of the portfolio is retail with mixed uses. The properties were purchased by the Sponsor from a lender that was liquidating a portfolio of properties acquired through various loan foreclosures. The primary reason for the foreclosures was too much leverage on the underlying assets. As part of its business plan, the Sponsor will be liquidating the assets within the portfolio.

The final legal maturity of the Notes is in May 2022, three years beyond the fully extended maturity of the loan. This is believed to be sufficient time to enforce and repay bondholders, given the unique security structure and the property’s jurisdiction.

Notes:
The applicable methodologies are European CMBS Rating Methodology, Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions, Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Servicers, Derivative Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions and Unified Interest Rate Model for European Securitisations, which can be found on www.dbrs.com under Methodologies.

This rating is endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the European Union.