DBRS Morningstar Assigns Provisional Ratings to Certain Tranche Amounts of Manitoulin USD Ltd., Algonquin 2023-1

DBRS, Inc. (DBRS Morningstar) assigned the following provisional credit ratings to the Tranche Initial Notional Amounts of the Senior Tranche, Tranche B, Tranche C, and Tranche D (collectively, the Tranche Amounts) of Kawartha CAD Ltd. (the Issuer) pursuant to Schedule 1 of the executed Junior Loan Portfolio Financial Guarantee (the Financial Guarantee) dated October 19, 2023, between the Issuer as Guarantor and the Bank of Montreal (BMO) as Beneficiary with respect to a portfolio of primarily U.S. and Canadian senior secured and senior unsecured loans originated or managed by the BMO (rated AA with a Stable trend by DBRS Morningstar):

-- Senior Tranche at AAA (sf)
-- Tranche B at AA (sf)
-- Tranche C at A (high) (sf)
-- Tranche D at A (low) (sf)

The provisional credit ratings on the Tranche Amounts address the likelihood of a reduction to the respective Tranche Initial Notional Amount (as defined in the Financial Guarantee) resulting from obligor defaults within the guaranteed portfolio during the period from the Effective Date until the Scheduled Termination Date. For obligors within the guaranteed portfolio, default events are limited to payment default, insolvency, and restructuring events.

The provisional credit ratings on the Tranche Amounts take into consideration only the creditworthiness of the reference portfolio. The provisional credit ratings neither address counterparty risk nor the likelihood of any event of default or termination events under the agreement occurring. BMO bought protection under the Financial Guarantee for certain issued notes in respect of such Protected Tranche (as defined in the Financial Guarantee).

Regarding the Notes, BMO did not request that DBRS Morningstar assign credit ratings to the Notes to be issued under the executed financial guarantee. The payment of principal and interest (the Guarantee Fee Amount, as defined in the executed financial guarantee referenced above) on the Notes is subject to additional counterparty credit risk associated with the Beneficiary’s ability to pay such amounts. As a result, if DBRS Morningstar were to rate such Notes, even if they are pari passu with a related Tranche Amount, DBRS Morningstar’s credit rating on the Notes may be different than the credit rating assigned to the related Tranche Amount.

DBRS Morningstar’s provisional credit ratings on the Tranche Amounts are expected to remain provisional until there is an executed Financial Guarantee agreement covering the payment obligations and exchange of risk in respect of such Tranche Amounts. BMO may have no intention of executing such a Financial Guarantee. DBRS Morningstar will maintain and monitor the provisional ratings throughout the life of the transaction or while it continues to receive performance information.

To assess portfolio credit quality, DBRS Morningstar may provide a credit estimate, internal assessment, or ratings mapping of BMO’s internal ratings model. Credit estimates, internal assessments, and ratings mappings are not ratings; rather, they represent an abbreviated analysis, including model-driven or statistical components of default probability for each obligor that is used in assigning a rating to a facility sufficient to assess portfolio credit quality.

CREDIT RATING RATIONALE/DESCRIPTION
The provisional credit ratings are a result of DBRS Morningstar’s review of the transaction structure and the Financial Guarantee of Manitoulin USD Ltd., a corporation established under the Canada Business Corporations Act. Manitoulin USD Ltd. is a synthetic risk transfer transaction with BMO as the Beneficiary.

The ratings reflect the following considerations:

(1) The Financial Guarantee.
(2) The integrity of the transaction structure and the form and sufficiency of available credit enhancement.
(3) The credit quality of the underlying collateral, subject to the Replenishment Criteria.
(4) The ability of the Tranche Amounts to withstand projected collateral loss rates under various stress scenarios.
(5) The legal structure as well as legal opinions addressing certain matters of the Issuer and the consistency with the DBRS Morningstar “Legal Criteria for U.S. Structured Finance” methodology.
(6) DBRS Morningstar’s assessment of the origination, servicing, and management capabilities of BMO.

DBRS Morningstar analyzed the transaction using its CLO Asset Model, based on certain reference portfolio characteristics, including Eligibility Criteria and Replenishment Criteria, as defined per the Financial Guarantees; and tranche-specific recovery rates, among other credit considerations referenced in the DBRS Morningstar rating methodology “Rating CLOs and CDOs of Large Corporate Credit” (October 6, 2023; https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/421604). The initial reference portfolio consists of well-diversified senior unsecured and senior secured corporate loans across various industries and rating levels. The analysis produced satisfactory results, which supported the assigned provisional ratings on the Tranche Amounts.

DBRS Morningstar’s credit ratings on the Tranche Amounts address the credit risk associated with the identified financial obligations in accordance with the relevant transaction documents. The associated financial obligations are a reduction to the respective Tranche Initial Notional Amounts (as defined in the Financial Guarantee) resulting from obligor defaults within the guaranteed portfolio during the period from the Effective Date until the Scheduled Termination Date.

DBRS Morningstar’s long-term credit ratings provide opinions on risk of default. DBRS Morningstar considers risk of default to be the risk that an issuer will fail to satisfy the financial obligations in accordance with the terms under which a long-term obligation has been issued. The DBRS Morningstar short-term debt rating scale provides an opinion on the risk that an issuer will not meet its short-term financial obligations in a timely manner.

For more information regarding DBRS Morningstar’s additional adjustment for select industries related to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic, please see its May 18, 2020, commentary, “CLO Risk Exposure to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)” at https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/361112.

The transaction assumptions consider DBRS Morningstar’s baseline macroeconomic scenarios for rated sovereign economies, available in its commentary “Baseline Macroeconomic Scenarios for Rated Sovereigns: September 2023 Update,” published on September 28, 2023 (https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/421227). These baseline macroeconomic scenarios replace DBRS Morningstar’s moderate and adverse pandemic scenarios, which were first published in April 2020.

ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, GOVERNANCE CONSIDERATIONS
There were no Environmental/Social/Governance factor(s) that had a significant or relevant effect on the credit analysis.

A description of how DBRS Morningstar considers ESG factors within the DBRS Morningstar analytical framework can be found in the DBRS Morningstar Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk Factors in Credit Ratings at https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/416784 (July 4, 2023).

Notes:
All figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodologies applicable to the credit ratings are Rating CLOs and CDOs of Large Corporate Credit (October 6, 2023; www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/421604) and Mapping Financial Institution Internal Ratings to DBRS Morningstar Ratings for Global Structured Credit Transactions (February 17, 2023; www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/410076).

Other methodologies referenced in this transaction are listed at the end of this press release.

The credit rating was initiated at the request of the rated entity.

The rated entity or its related entities did participate in the credit rating process for this credit rating action.

DBRS Morningstar had access to the accounts, management and other relevant internal documents of the rated entity or its related entities in connection with this credit rating action.

This is a solicited credit rating.

A provisional credit rating is not a final credit rating with respect to the above-mentioned Tranche Amounts and may change or be different from the final credit rating assigned or may be discontinued. The assignment of the final credit ratings on the above-mentioned Tranche Amounts are subject to receipt by DBRS Morningstar of all data and/or information and final documentation that DBRS Morningstar deems necessary to finalize the credit ratings.

Please see the related appendix for additional information regarding the sensitivity of assumptions used in the credit rating process.

DBRS, Inc.
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New York, NY 10005 USA
Tel. +1 212 806-3277

The credit rating methodologies used in the analysis of this transaction can be found at: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/about/methodologies.

-- Rating CLOs and CDOs of Large Corporate Credit and DBRS Morningstar CLO Asset Model Version 2.2.3.1 (October 6, 2023), www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/421604

-- Mapping Financial Institution Internal Ratings to DBRS Morningstar Ratings for Global Structured Credit Transactions (February 17, 2023), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/410076

-- Cash Flow Assumptions for Corporate Credit Securitizations (February 7, 2023), www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/409499

-- Operational Risk Assessment for Collateralized Loan Obligation (CLO) and Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO) Managers of Large Corporate Credits (September 23, 2022), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/403042

-- Interest Rate Stresses for U.S. Structured Finance Transactions (June 9, 2023), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/415687

-- Legal Criteria for U.S. Structured Finance (December 7, 2022), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/407008

For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit www.dbrsmorningstar.com or contact us at info@dbrsmorningstar.com.