IRVING, Texas — Late last week, Exeter Finance Corp. announced the completion of its first rated term securitization, issuing $200 million in notes backed by subprime auto installment receivables.

The company indicated the notes were purchased by qualified institutional buyers and accredited investors in a private placement offering pursuant to Rule 144A of the Securities Act.

Officials also mentioned the four note classes carried ratings ranging from AAA/AA through BB/BB from DBRS and Standard & Poor's, respectively. They said the weighted average coupon was 3.7 percent.

Exeter explained Wells Fargo Securities and Deutsche Bank Securities acted as lead managers, and Citigroup and Credit Suisse acted as co-managers.

Exeter insisted that it differentiates itself by using a decentralized underwriting process carried out at local branches and controlled through centralized credit policies and a custom scoring model.

Today, the company manages a portfolio of over $300 million.

"We're very pleased with the amount of interest we received on our inaugural transaction and look forward to becoming a regular issuer as we continue to build out our platform," Exeter chief executive officer Mark Floyd stated.

"Our banking partners did an outstanding job taking the Exeter story to the market, as evidenced by the level of participation we had in the transaction," Floyd continued.

With all notes included in this securitization having been sold, Floyd went on to say this announcement of their sale appears as a matter of record only.