Australia's Challenger prices A$632.1 mln RMBS issue

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SYDNEY, April 16 (Reuters) - Australian non-bank housing
lender Challenger Mortgage has priced a A$632.1 million ($458
million) issue of prime residential mortgage-backed securities
(RMBS), a joint lead said on Thursday.

The Australian government bought A$500 million of the offer
as part of its A$8 billion RMBS purchase plan announced late
last year to inject much-needed liquidity into the home loan
market.

The government has now invested A$4.8 billion in RMBS since
the programme was introduced.

Australian non-bank lenders have suffered since the U.S
subprime mortgage crisis because they are reliant on the
now-moribund securitisation market to fund their operations.

The Challenger offer is the fifth RMBS issue to be sold to
investors this year with the government acting as a cornerstone
investor.

The new Challenger offer, called Challenger Millennium
Series 2009-1 Trust, is backed by prime mortgages, and jointly
led by Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank and National Australia
Bank.

The offer structure was revised from the day it was
launched with different amounts and ratings.

The issuer is a unit of Challenger Financial Group
(CGF.AX). The first tranche has a final maturity of April 20,
2010, while the other tranches mature on April 20, 2040.

Settlement is on April 24.

The issue pool includes loans with an average loan-to-value
ratio of 69 percent and an average time since issue, or
seasoning, of 30 months, according to Standard & Poor's. The
pool comprises 8 percent of low-documentations loans.

Mortgage insurers are Genworth Financial Mortgage Insurance
Pty Ltd (47 percent) and QBE Lenders' Mortgage Insurance Ltd
(53 percent).

Details of the offer are as follows:

Class AMOUNT RATINGS AVER LIFE MARGIN

(MLN) (S&P/FITCH) (YEARS) (bps)

A1 A$49 A-1+/F1+ 0.19 +70/1mBBSW

A2 A$51 AAA/AAA 0.54 +100/1mBBSW

A3 A$202.5 AAA/AAA 1.53 +130/1mBBSW

A4 A$289 AAA/AAA 4.29 +145/1mBBSW

AB A$20.3 AAA/AAA 4.38 +170/1mBBSW

B A$20.3 AA-/AA- undisclosed undisclosed
($1=1.38 Australian Dollar)
(Reporting by Cecile Lefort)