Muller Interviewed on CMBS Market in Retail Traffic

Tom Muller, a partner in Manatt’s Real Estate and Land Use Practice Group, talked with Retail Traffic about the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market, and buzz created by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) bringing the first multi-borrower deal to market. 

The deal, initially planned as a $500 million issuance, was sold as a multi-borrower securitization with many properties, though it only had six borrowers, and was ultimately valued at $309 million. “The RBS CMBS deal was slightly illusory because of the number of borrowers – an investor can get a very good idea about borrower quality,” Muller told Retail Traffic. 

This new world of conduit lending has been nicknamed CMBS 2.0 by industry players. According to the article, experts say that banks on the leading edge of this are demonstrating creativity and courage. “They’re thinking this is an opportunity to make some money on the deals, but it’s also an opportunity to make a splash and paint themselves as creative enough to revive the market,” said Muller.