AviLease successfully raised a $2.5bn five year unsecured term facility. The facility is structured into two parts consisting of a conventional facility of $1.73bn and a Sharia'ah compliant facility of $770 million. The company said it was 2.7 times oversubscribed with ""substantial interest"" from local, regional, and international markets. It said this exemplifies the ""growing global confidence"" in its structure and growth potential. ""The strong market response and the diverse profiles of lenders, including our existing lenders joined by new lenders, is another testament to the continuous global confidence in our business model and growth prospects,"" said AviLease chairman of the board of directors Fahad Al-Saif. The financing will be used to fully refinance a bridge facility it raised in 2023 when it acquired Standard Chartered aircraft leasing platform. The facility was supported by a ""syndicate of banking partners across three continents"", AviLease CEO Edward O'Byrne said. AviLease CEO Edward O'Byrne commented: ""It is crucial for us to call on a wide variety of global trusted financial partners with strong balance sheets, who can provide, over the years, continued funding to support our growth objectives."" The company said: ""This will further fuel our plans to expand our fleet and become of the world's top 10 aircraft leasing companies by 2030."" As of September 2, 2024, the company said it has a portfolio of 180 owned and managed aircraft representing a book value of $6.5bn. ""Outside the bank market,"" continued Al-Saif, ""AviLease will continue to explore a variety of debt funding sources as it delivers on its ambitious strategic objectives which aims to contribute to the development of the aviation ecosystem in the kingdom."" The facility was supported by a syndicate of 24 banking partners, eight of which were new relationships for AviLease. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank acted as coordinating bank. Bookrunners were Al Ahli Bank Kuwait (DIFC branch), BNP Paribas, Citi Europe, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Gulf International Bank - Saudi Arabia, JP Morgan Securities, and the Saudi Investment Bank. Commercial Bank of Dubai, HSBC Middle East, and Natixis Investment Managers acted as mandated lead arrangers. Agricultural Bank of China (DIFC branch), China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation, Gulf Bank KSCP, and Saudi Awwal Bank were lead arrangers. Emirates NBD Bank acted as agent. For the Sharia'ah compliant facility, Mizuho acted as coordinating bank. In addition, Alrajhi Bank & Investment Corporation, MUFG Bank (DIFC branch - Dubai) and Riyadh Bank were bookrunners for the Sharia'ah compliant facility. Meanwhile, Saudi National Bank and Warba Bank were lead arrangers and Riyadh Bank was the global agent and investment agent. White & Case acted as counsel to AviLease while the lenders were advised by Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.
AviLease raises $2.5bn five years unsecured term facility
