Allen & Overy said today that Deutsche Bank’s EUR355 million multi loan CMBS transaction, the first in Europe since the credit crunch, points to improving conditions within the European CMBS market which has been markedly slow since 2007.

The three commercial mortgage loans were granted by Deutsche Bank AG to Italian borrowers (both real estate funds and companies). The underlying properties comprise logistics, retail and office assets in northern Italy. All the real estate is owned by borrowers sponsored by a major financial organisation. This deal follows the very recent Taurus UK CMBS transaction, on which Allen & Overy also advised.

The Allen & Overy team was jointly led by Milan-based banking partner Stefano Sennhauser and London-based securitisation partner Christian Lambie, while additional advice was provided by Allen & Overy’s banking, capital markets, real estate and tax groups.

Stefano Sennhauser, partner at Allen & Overy, commented: “We are very pleased to have advised Deutsche Bank on this landmark deal, both on the negotiation of the underlying loans and the structuring and documentation of this successful CMBS. This transaction is a further indication of an ever growing interest by institutional investors in high-quality real estate assets, both in Italy and across Europe. The possibility to successfully access the capital markets coupled with improvements in the recently introduced Italian legal framework for securitisations, which is expected to be converted into law in the coming weeks, should re-open a path for more transactions of this nature”.

Christian Lambie, partner at Allen & Overy, commented: “The market for real estate-backed securities in Europe has been very sluggish during the first half of this year, with predictions that issuance will climb remaining unfulfilled. The new regulatory landscape means that these deals require confidence and this transaction shows that there are some important tendrils of growth in market activity.”