Upgrade, Inc. Completes $225 Million Securitization

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Upgrade, Inc., a consumer credit platform that offers access to affordable credit products with credit monitoring and education tools, announced today it closed its second securitization of personal loans. Upgrade Receivables Trust 2019-1 ("UPGR 2019-1") issued approximately $225 million in notes backed by personal loan assets facilitated through the Upgrade platform.

Jefferies acted as the structuring lead and Barclays and Credit Suisse acted as co-leads. Upgrade contributed collateral to the transaction and, as the sponsor of the transaction, served as the risk retention party. The transaction was significantly oversubscribed, over 10x for certain classes.

"We are pleased that this deal attracted strong interest from institutions, many that are new to our program, allowing us to tighten pricing and provide attractive term financing to both our platform and our whole loan investor base," said Renaud Laplanche, co-founder and CEO of Upgrade. "Our team's ability to continue to deliver strong underwriting and solid performance will enable Upgrade to further diversify and scale capital across the platform for long-term growth."

The Upgrade Receivables Trust securitization was rated by Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Inc. and includes $140.5 million of Class A notes rated "A (sf)", $23.8 million of Class B notes rated "BBB (sf)", $31.2 million of Class C notes rated "BB (sf)" and $31.2 million of Class D notes rated "B- (sf)."

"Jefferies is extremely pleased to have been the structuring lead on the first Upgrade ABS transaction of 2019. With multiple tranches significantly oversubscribed, $1.5 billion in orders, 26 unique investors (including many new investors that did not participate in Upgrade's inaugural ABS transaction), and the opportunity to continue to establish the Upgrade securitization program, we are happy to have helped Upgrade achieve this highly successful and marquee transaction," said Mike Wade, Head of Capital Markets at Jefferies.

Upgrade intends to issue quarterly securitizations that will give institutional investors a consistent and repeatable way to invest through the platform. Since launching in April 2017, the Upgrade platform has helped fund more than $1.4 billion of personal loans to more than 125,000 borrowers. The company has raised $142 million in equity capital and continues to expand its product lines, now offering Personal Credit Lines https://www.upgrade.com/personal-credit-line/ and Credit Health Upgrade's unique suite of credit monitoring and education products.

About Upgrade
Upgrade is a consumer credit platform that offers access to affordable personal loans and personal credit lines with credit monitoring and education tools that help consumers better understand their credit. Upgrade employs over 300 team members and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with an operations center in Phoenix, Arizona and technology centers in Chicago, Illinois and Montreal, Canada. Upgrade does not facilitate loans to residents of Connecticut, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, Vermont and West Virginia. All loans originated through the Upgrade platform are issued by WebBank, Member FDIC. More information is available at: https://www.upgrade.com/

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SOURCE Upgrade, Inc.