News and press

NAC has successfully priced the largest ever US Private Placement issued by an aircraft lessor

12 February 2020

Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) is pleased to confirm that it has priced a record-breaking US Private Placement of USD858.83 million. This is the largest Private Placement by an aircraft lessor in the history of the market. The pricing of the transaction was completed last week with closing and funding later this month. This follows last year’s record transaction of USD786.25million, which at the time was the largest ever Senior Unsecured Private Placement issued by an aircraft lessor.

The new transaction consists of three, five- and seven-year tenors with the bulk being five years. It has a weighted coupon of 3.92%. There are over 26 investors involved in the transaction; 8 of these represent new investor relationships. This is a strong testament to the rapidly growing investor confidence in NAC as the clear leader in the regional aircraft leasing industry.

“We are very pleased with another landmark issue and the amount of support we have received from both new and existing investors. The issuing will enable NAC to further strengthen its market-leading platform and to actively pursue its ambitious corporate and market strategies,” says CEO Søren M. Overgaard.

“We are delighted with another sizeable and very successful issuance of unsecured notes in this market, and to surpass last year’s fundraising has been an even further validation of NAC’s funding strategy and the regional aircraft sector. This issuance will enable the company to further unencumber its balance sheet reducing its secured debt to total assets to around 30%,” adds Steve Gorman Chief Funding Officer.

The issue was arranged by Citigroup, Crédit Agricole, and Goldman Sachs.

Clifford Chance LLP acted as counsel for NAC while Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP acted as counsel for the Note Holders.

About Nordic Aviation Capital

NAC is the industry’s leading regional aircraft lessor serving 79 airline customers in 53 countries. The company provides aircraft to well-established carriers such as British Airways, Air Canada, LOT, Azul, Lufthansa, Garuda, Aeroméxico and airBaltic as well as major regional carriers including Air Nostrum, Flybe, Cityjet, Airlink and Widerøe. NAC’s current fleet of 500 aircraft includes ATR 42, ATR 72, Bombardier Dash 8, CRJ900/1000, Airbus A220 and Embraer E-Jet family aircraft.
For additional information, please visit us at www.nac.dk
Contacts: Søren M. Overgaard or Steve Gorman, +45 7651 1200