UPDATE 1-Macquarie unit prices A$1.2 bln auto loan-backed issue

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SYDNEY, June 6 (Reuters) - Macquarie Leasing Pty Ltd, a
unit of Macquarie Group (MQG.AX), said on Friday it has priced
a A$1.2 billion ($1.1 billion) equivalent auto loan-backed
securities issue.

JPMorgan (JPM.N), Macquarie Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland
(RBS.L) were joint bookrunners.

Part of the offer was denominated in euros and issued by a
repackaging vehicle called ARC Funding. The euro tranches may
be repo-eligible in the near future with the European Central
Bank, making them the first Australian asset-backed securities
to be repo-eligible with the ECB.

Assets that are repo-eligible attract bank buyers who can
use them in their daily liquidity operations.

A total of 21 investors participated in the auto-loan issue
including seven international accounts. More than half of the
securities were placed with fund managers.

The offer was increased from an initial size of A$650
million and the euro tranches priced tighter than the
preliminary target of 130 basis points over Euribor thanks to
strong investor appetite.

"We believe this makes SMART 2008-1E, the largest publicly
placed securitisation in the Asia Pacific region since the
start of the credit crisis and the second largest deal of its
kind in Australia," said Adrian Bentley, head of debt finance
at Macquarie.

The offer, called SMART Series 2008-1E, settles on June 16.

Subordinated bonds make up 7.0 percent of the issue.

Macquarie Leasing is the originator of the auto loans and
will service the portfolio.

The loans are expected to have an average time since issue,
or seasoning, of 6.5 months, with 89 percent of the pool being
auto loans. The average loan size is A$36,000.

There will also be A$10.8 million in 3.99-year unrated
seller notes, known as an equity tranche because it is the
riskiest in the transaction. The tranche is not sold to
investors.

Deal details are as follows: CLASS AMOUNT RATINGS
AVERAGE MARGIN FINAL

(MLN) S&P/Moody's LIFE* (basis points) MATURITY
A-1 A$157.4 A1+/P-1 0.3 +80/1mBBSW May 2009
A-2A A$220 AAA/Aaa 2.13 +145/1mBBSW June
2015 A-2E EUR155 AAA/Aaa 2.16 +125/3mEuribor
June 2015 A-2E2 EUR300 AAA/Aaa 2.16 +125/3mEuribor
June 2015 B A$47.4 -/A1 2.98 not sold
June 2015 C A$12.6 -/Baa2 2.98 not sold

June 2015 D A$9 -/Ba2 3.99 not sold

June 2015 E A$4.2 -/B2 3.99 not sold

June 2015 ($1=A$1.04)
(Reporting by Cecile Lefort)