WASHINGTON, April 2,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Federal Agricultural
Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac; NYSE: AGM and AGM.A), the
nation's secondary market provider that increases the accessibility
of financing for American agriculture and rural infrastructure,
announced today that it has completed a $308.1 million securitization of agricultural
mortgage loans. This is Farmer Mac's fourth transaction in the FARM
series since 2021.
"We are very pleased with the execution of our fourth
agricultural mortgage-backed securitization (AMBS) transaction,
FARM 2024-1, as we return to the market in the new year," says
President and Chief Executive Officer, Brad
Nordholm. "Farmer Mac remains committed to developing a
vibrant and liquid AMBS market that is central to our core mission
to improve credit accessibility in rural America."
The mortgage pool for FARM Series 2024-1 consists of 443
agricultural mortgage loans with an aggregate outstanding principal
balance of approximately $308.1
million. The loans in the pool were underwritten to Farmer
Mac's standards and acquired by Farmer Mac between February 2022 and August
2023. This deal included a $285.0
million senior tranche guaranteed by Farmer Mac and a
$23.1 million unguaranteed
subordinate tranche. The senior tranche reflects an enhanced
sophistication of the securitization by offering notes in three
classes, A, A1, and A2, each of which are guaranteed by Farmer Mac.
These three guaranteed classes provide for differing principal
repayment cashflows, which provided more investment options and
drove new investor demand.
"We have witnessed significant volatility in the credit markets
over the past year and the fact that we were able to generate more
than three times the demand for this offering is a testament to
Farmer Mac's reputation with institutional investors and the
overall market appetite for the underlying agricultural asset
class," said Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer, Aparna Ramesh. "Not only was demand strong but
we were able to successfully expand our investor base and introduce
new classes of senior notes to address cashflow demands of capital
markets."
BofA Securities, Inc. and Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acted as
joint bookrunners along with CastleOak Securities, L.P. and Seaport
Global Securities LLC, as selling group members. Dechert LLP served
as legal advisor to Farmer Mac. Morgan, Lewis and Bockius LLP
served as legal advisor to BofA Securities, Inc., Oppenheimer &
Co. Inc., CastleOak Securities, L.P., and Seaport Global Securities
LLC.
About Farmer Mac
As a Government Sponsored Enterprise driven by our Congressional
charter to help build a strong and vital rural America, Farmer Mac
creates a secondary market that increases access to credit for the
benefit of American agricultural, rural utilities, and rural
communities. By offering innovative financial products, Farmer Mac
enables lenders to offer flexible and competitive financing to
eligible farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses, and rural
infrastructure providers. Farmer Mac's customers benefit from its
long-term financing, low cost of funds, low overhead costs, and
high operational efficiency. More information about Farmer Mac is
available on Farmer Mac's website at www.farmermac.com.
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SOURCE Farmer Mac