Anthracite Euro CRE CDO 2006-1
Anthracite Euro CRE CDO 2006-1 ended months of market speculation surrounding which firm would debut Europe’s inaugural commercial real estate collateralized loan obligation. In late November 2006, BlackRock and Morgan Stanley rolled out the €342 million ($436.8 million) deal, which was immediately praised for helping to establish a framework in this nascent asset class. Backed by an assortment of mezzanine commercial mortgage-backed securities tranches and subordinated “B” and “C” loans concentrated in the U.K. and Germany, the sourcing of collateral was also seen as a major coup in a market where finding sufficient collateral has proven to be an uphill battle. Richard Shea, a managing director at BlackRock in New York, was the key player in the deal. At Morgan Stanley, Greg Drennan was the senior structuring banker, and Dorothee Fuhrmann was the syndicate lead. Both Drennan and Fuhrmann have since left Morgan Stanley for Citi and Lehman Brothers, respectively. Iskren Valev was junior structurer and remains at the firm.