Fitch Rates Octagon Investment Partners 24, Ltd./LLC; New Issue Report

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fitch Ratings has assigned the following rating to Octagon Investment Partners 24, Ltd./LLC:

--$484,375,000 class A-1 notes 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable.

Fitch does not rate the class A-2, B, C, D, E, subordinated notes or the delayed-draw notes corresponding to each class of secured notes.

TRANSACTION SUMMARY

Octagon Investment Partners 24, Ltd. (the issuer) and Octagon Investment Partners 24, LLC (the co-issuer) together comprise an arbitrage cash flow collateralized loan obligation (CLO) that will be managed by Octagon Credit Investors, LLC (Octagon). Net proceeds from the issuance of the secured and subordinated notes will be used to purchase a portfolio of approximately $750 million of primarily senior secured leveraged loans. The CLO will have a four-year reinvestment period and a 1.5-year non-call period.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Sufficient Credit Enhancement: Credit enhancement (CE) of 35.4% for class A-1 notes, in addition to excess spread, is sufficient to protect against portfolio default and recovery rate projections in an 'AAAsf' stress scenario. The degree of CE available to class A-1 notes is below the average CE of recent CLO issuances.

'B+/B' Asset Quality: The average credit quality of the indicative portfolio is 'B+/B,' which is in line with recent CLOs. Issuers rated in the 'B' rating category denote a highly speculative credit quality; however, in Fitch's opinion, class A-1 notes are unlikely to be affected by the foreseeable level of defaults. Class A-1 notes are projected to be able to withstand default rates of up to 58.0%.

Strong Recovery Expectations: The indicative portfolio consists of 95.1% senior secured loans. Approximately 88.1% of the indicative portfolio has strong recovery prospects or a Fitch-assigned Recovery Rating of 'RR2' or higher and the base case recovery assumption is 74.3%. In determining ratings for class A-1 notes, Fitch stressed the indicative portfolio by assuming a higher portfolio concentration of assets with lower recovery prospects and further reduced recovery assumptions for higher rating stresses resulting in a 34.1% recovery rate assumption in Fitch's 'AAAsf' scenario.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Fitch evaluated the structure's sensitivity to the potential variability of key model assumptions, including decreases in recovery rates and increases in default rates or correlation. Fitch expects the class A-1 notes to remain investment grade even under the most extreme sensitivity scenarios. Results under these sensitivity scenarios ranged between 'Asf' and 'AAAsf' for the class A-1 notes.

Sources of information used to assess these ratings were provided by the arranger, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., and the public domain. Key Rating Drivers and Rating Sensitivities are further described in the accompanying new issue report which is available to investors on Fitch's website at 'www.fitchratings.com'.

For more information about Fitch's comprehensive subscription service FitchResearch, which includes all presale reports, surveillance and credit reports on more than 20 asset classes, contact product sales at +1-212-908-0800 or at '[email protected]'.

Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'.

Applicable Criteria and Related Research:

--'Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria' (March 31, 2015);

--'Global Rating Criteria for Corporate CDOs' (July 25, 2014);

--'Criteria for Interest Rate Stresses in Structured Finance Transactions and Covered Bonds' (Dec. 19, 2014);

--'Counterparty Criteria for Structured Finance and Covered Bonds' (May 14, 2014).

Applicable Criteria and Related Research: Octagon Investment Partners 24, Ltd./LLC

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=866315

Counterparty Criteria for Structured Finance and Covered Bonds

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=744158

Global Rating Criteria for Corporate CDOs

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=753057

Criteria for Interest Rate Stresses in Structured Finance Transactions and Covered Bonds

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=838868

Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=864268

Additional Disclosure

Solicitation Status

http://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=985181

ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150521006550/en/

Fitch Ratings
Primary Analyst:
Erika Tsang, CFA, +1-212-908-0817
Director
Fitch Ratings, Inc.
33 Whitehall Street
New York, NY 10004
or
Secondary Analyst:
Trevor Lee, +1-212-908-0881
Associate Director
or
Committee Chairperson:
Derek Miller, +1-312-368-2076
Senior Director
or
Sandro Scenga, +1-212-908-0278
Media Relations, New York
[email protected]

Source: Fitch Ratings

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