Developers Diversified Realty sold $400m of debt backed by shopping centres in the first offering of commercial-mortgage bonds through a US program to jumpstart lending.

The offering, underwritten by Goldman Sachs, is the first to use the Federal Reserve’s Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility since it was opened to the debt in June. While representing a 'positive for the market,' the transaction won’t necessarily lead to a flood of issuance, said James Grady, managing director at Deutsche Asset Management in New York.

bloomberg.com