–Transaction Reduces ML II Portfolio, Loan ‘At A Desirable Price’

NEW YORK (MNI) – The New York Federal Reserve Bank announced
Thursday that it sold $7.014 billion in “face amount” of assets from its
Maiden Lane II LLC portfolio via a competitive bidding process to Credit
Suisse Securities (USA) LLC.

The New York Fed said in a statement decided to move forward with
the transaction only after determining that the winning bid represented
good value for the public.

“This transaction substantially reduces the ML II portfolio and
loan at a desirable price. Furthermore, the transaction is consistent
with ML II’s stated investment objective,” the statement said.

New York Fed President William Dudley said, “I am pleased with the
strength of the bids and the level of market interest in these assets.”

The transaction was prompted by an unsolicited offer from Goldman
Sachs to BlackRock Solutions, the investment manager for ML II, in
January 2012, to buy a portion of ML II assets, the statement said

Net proceeds from the sale will be reported as part of the
portfolio’s normal reporting schedule on April 16.

“Consistent with its March 2011 announcement regarding the
disposition procedures for ML II, which allowed for these types of
reverse inquiries, the New York Fed directed BlackRock Solutions to
conduct a sale via a competitive process,” it said.

Along with Credit Suisse, the other broker-dealers included in the
competitive process were Barclays Capital Inc., Goldman Sachs & Co. and
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated.

Participants in the process were selected based on their previous
expressions of interest for large parcels of the portfolio and/or their
participation in the ML II bid list process conducted last year.

The New York Fed said that through BlackRock Solutions it “will
dispose of the remaining securities in the ML II portfolio individually
and in segments over time as market conditions warrant through a
competitive sales process, while taking appropriate care to avoid market
disruption.

“There will be no fixed timeframe for the sales; at each stage, the
Federal Reserve will only transact if the best available bid represents
good value for the public,” it said.

** Market News International New York Newsroom: 212-669-6430 **

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