Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) has signed a new multi-tranche financing, structured as a combination of revolving credit facilities and term financing facilities, each comprising of conventional and Islamic tranches with HSBC and JPMorgan acting as joint bookrunners and joint mandated lead arrangers.
Following “significant demand”, DAE disclosed that the transaction was upsized in syndication to more than twice the envisaged initial size and the facilities closed at an amount of US$1.6 billion with a group of 26 financiers, making it the largest bank loan financing raised by DAE to date.
DAE says that the facility enabled the company to tap the Islamic banking liquidity as well as consolidate its existing banking relationships from Middle East, Asia, North America, and Europe. Proceeds from the facilities will support the future financing needs of the business and refinance a maturing credit facility.
“We are very happy with the exceptional outcome delivered by the joint bookrunners, who demonstrated a combination of strong leadership, sound market judgement and conviction that has enabled DAE to execute a successful financing to support our corporate strategy,” says Firoz Tarapore, chief executive officer of DAE. “The closing of these facilities, as well as the upsizing and oversubscription, underscores the support and confidence that banks have shown in DAE and its future growth prospects. The facilities will allow DAE to maintain its exceptional liquidity and support the financing requirements of our recently announced order book acquisition. We look forward to continuing to deepen our relationship with our banking partners in the coming years.”
Shaikha Al Marri, head of government and corporates within the global banking team at HSBC Middle East, commented: “HSBC has a longstanding relationship with DAE and the very robust demand for this landmark transaction from investors across a wide range of geographies, which resulted in a significant increase in its final size, clearly demonstrates how we use the strength of our network on behalf of our clients.”
Imran Zaidi, head of MENAP Corporate Banking at JP Morgan comments that it was pleased the bank could support DAE in achieving its financing plans. “We are proud of our long standing relationship with DAE and look forward to supporting their future requirements also,” said Zaidi. “The transaction was significantly upsized and oversubscribed which underscores investors’ confidence in DAE’s performance.”