Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Perpetual Trustee Company Limited and P.T. Limited on the first auto operating lease-backed securitisation by an Australian issuer.

The ground-breaking transaction, known as ‘FP Turbo Series 2014-1 Trust’, saw Norton Rose Fulbright’s debt capital markets team act for Perpetual Trustee Company Limited and P.T. Limited as issuer trustee, security trustee and backup servicer on a A$277 million asset-backed pass through securitisation issuance.

The debt securities are backed by operating, finance and novated vehicle leases which are serviced by FleetPartners Pty Limited, a leading leasing and fleet management company in Australia. The issuance consisted of seven classes of notes, with the first six rated and one class unrated.

Tessa Hoser, Australian head of Norton Rose Fulbright’s debt capital markets practice, said another unusual aspect of the deal was the inclusion of residual value of the vehicles in the valuation of the asset pool. “This is something we have typically seen in aircraft lease securitisations, but not in auto deals in Australia because of the shorter-term of those leases and some valuation challenges,” she said.

The team was led by Tessa Hoser, and included Vittorio Casamento and Livia Li. Partner Peter Norman and Claire Faulkner assisted with respect to taxation issues.

Norton Rose Fulbright’s wider debt capital markets team was recently bolstered with the appointment of Dale Rayner as a partner in its banking practice. Dale joined from Clifford Chance and is based in the Brisbane office.