Macquarie eyes A$ auto-backed loan issue-source

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SYDNEY, May 6 (Reuters) - A unit of Macquarie Group
MGQ.AX plans to meet with Australian and international debt
investors next week ahead of a potential auto-backed loan
issue, an investor said on Tuesday.

The planned offer, to be documented under Macquarie's SMART
programme, is backed by prime auto and equipment receivables
and is arranged by Macquarie Bank.

It would be the third asset-backed issue sold in Australia
this year. The two other issues were also auto-loan backed.

Asset-backed issuance has been hit hard by the U.S.
subprime mortgage crisis, which has all but halted the world's
fourth-largest mortgage-backed market.

St. George Bank (SGB.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Bank of Queensland (BOQ.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)
raised A$341 million and A$628 million respectively in
auto-backed loan issues earlier in 2008.

Macquarie Bank declined to comment.
($1=A$1.07)
(Reporting by Cecile Lefort)