Fitch Cuts CMBS Ratings in Wake of General Growth Filing
The shoes are starting to drop in the aftermath of the bankruptcy filing of retail shopping mall REIT General Growth Properties: Fitch Ratings has revised its Rating Outlook to Negative from Stable on 96 U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) classes across 20 transactions. Fitch said the revised Rating Outlooks are in large part due to the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of GGP and certain affiliates which are borrowers in CMBS transactions. The filing includes the special purpose entity (SPE) borrowers for 158 retail properties. Of these, 63 properties secure 58 loans in Fitch rated U.S. CMBS transactions.
“The inclusion of the SPE borrowers within GGP’s bankruptcy filing creates a level of uncertainty for CMBS investors. For example, while the voluntary filing of the SPE borrowers is an event of default on the CMBS loans, a bankruptcy court judge may prevent special servicers from foreclosing on the properties. If the properties remain within the bankruptcy proceedings, based on the material equity in many of these high performing assets, GGP could seek additional leverage secured by the mortgaged properties to help repay their corporate unsecured debt. The presence of additional debt would put substantial additional stress on the properties and impair the performance of the CMBS transactions. GGP has already requested $375 million of Debtor-in-Possession (DIP) financing. At a minimum, CMBS trusts which include GGP loans will incur additional servicing fees.”
Fitch said the 58 GGP loans included in Fitch rated transactions generally continue to maintain positive performance. The properties have a current average debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) of 1.78 times (x) based on the most recent financials provided.
However, given the uncertainty associated with the corporate bankruptcy filing and the potential additional loss severity for the CMBS loans, Fitch considers each of these assets a Loan of Concern. In addition, those loans with investment grade shadow ratings are no longer considered investment grade.
Full details are available here.
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