Canada Housing Trust Completes $5.5B Bond Offering

Canada Housing Trust No. 1, a special purpose securitization trust advised by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC), closed a $5.5 billion offering of Canada mortgage bonds, series 6, guaranteed by CMHC. The deal closed on December 12, 2003.

CMHC was represented by in-house counsel Douglas Tyler and Reem Hindieh; and assisted in Canada by Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, with a team that included Rosalind Morrow (securities and derivatives), Stephen Redican and Gus Karantzoulis (banking and structured finance), Matt Campbell (securities) and Stephen Heller and Jonathan Willson (tax) in Toronto; Daniel Gendron in Montreal provided civil law services; and in the US by Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, with a team that included Robert Harvey and Terry O’Brien.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the administrator of the trust, was represented in-house by Ted Fujisawa, executive director; and assisted by the BLG team. The underwriters, led by TD Bank, CIBC World Markets Inc., Deutsche Bank AG London, Merrill Lynch Canada Inc. and RBC Dominion Securities Inc., were represented by Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, with a team that included Carol Pennycook and Sonny Bhalla in Toronto and Scott Tayne in New York.