BOC Aviation Pte. Ltd. (“BOC Aviation”) hereby announces that it has priced its US$350 million 4.375% 10-Year Senior Unsecured Notes due 2023 (the “Notes”). The notes will close on 2 May 2013, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
The transaction was issued off BOC Aviation’s US$2 billion Euro Medium Term Note Programme ("EMTN Programme”) established in September 2012 and was more than six times subscribed with an orderbook aggregating US$2.25 billion. It was jointly arranged by BOC International, Citigroup, HSBC and J.P. Morgan.
The Notes will be denominated in US dollars, and will bear a fixed interest coupon of 4.375% p.a., with interest payable semi-annually in arrears. The yield to investors will be 4.401% p.a., representing a spread of 2.70% p.a. over 10-year US Treasury notes. BOC Aviation will apply the net proceeds to fund its new capital expenditure, for general corporate purposes and/or refinancing existing borrowings.
The unsecured notes will be listed on SGX-ST and will be rated BBB- by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, and A- by Fitch Ratings.
Orders were received from more than 150 high quality fixed income accounts. In terms of geographic distribution, the Notes were distributed 85% in Asia and 15% in Europe. In terms of allocation, 31% were allocated to insurers, 29% to asset and fund managers, 10% to banks, 23% to private banks and 7% to corporate and others.
Robert Martin, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BOC Aviation, commented, “We are very pleased with the positive response for our first benchmark 10-year unsecured note issuance under our EMTN Programme after meeting investors in Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing. This meets our strategic objectives of raising our profile in the corporate bond market and diversifying our investor base as we gradually increase the proportion of our financing from the debt capital markets going forward.”
BOC Aviation is the leading Asia-based aircraft leasing company with a portfolio of 220 owned and managed aircraft operated by airlines worldwide and another 88 aircraft on firm order. The Company has one of the youngest fleets in the industry with an average owned aircraft age of less than four years.
BOC Aviation is 100% owned by Bank of China, one of the largest banks in the world. BOC Aviation will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.