Ex-Im Bank Provides $187.4 Million Guarantee for Bond Issuance Supporting Sikorsky Helicopters to Milestone Aviation Group
May 31, 2013
(Ex-Im Bank)
First Use of Capital-Markets Funding for
Ex-Im-Backed Helicopter Exports
Washington, D.C. – The Export-Import Bank of
the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is providing a
$187.4 million guarantee of a capital-markets
bond to finance the export of Sikorsky S-92®
helicopters to The Milestone Aviation Group
Ltd. of Dublin, Ireland.
The transaction is Ex-Im Bank's largest
financing of U.S.-manufactured commercial
helicopter exports and the agency's first
support of these exports to a
helicopter-leasing company.
It is also the first Ex-Im Bank-guaranteed bond
issuance in the capital markets to fund
helicopter exports. Deutsche Bank Securities
was the sole structuring agent and the lead
book runner for the bond issuance on May 22.
The bond was priced at par to yield 1.87
percent.
The export sale supports approximately 1,500
jobs in the U.S. helicopter industry, according
to Ex-Im Bank estimates derived from
Departments of Commerce and Labor data and
methodology. The S-92® helicopters are being
manufactured at Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.
facilities in Stratford, Conn., and
Coatesville, Pa. Principal subcontractors also
involved in the manufacture are Hamilton
Sundstrand, Rockwell Collins and General
Electric.
"Ex-Im Bank's capital-markets financing has
proven to be a successful way to fund exports
of U.S.-made large commercial aircraft.
Extending this type of funding to helicopter
exports will help support more American jobs
and more companies in the very competitive U.S.
aerospace industry," said Ex-Im Bank Chairman
and President Fred P. Hochberg.
The exports were initially financed by a
commercial bridge facility that will be
replaced by the funds raised by the issuance of
the capital-markets bond. The helicopters are
being delivered under a number of separate
contracts, both directly with the Milestone
Aviation Group and as part of sale-leaseback
agreements. The end users are five different
Milestone customers, and the S-92® helicopters
will be operated in the United Kingdom, Norway
and Brazil. Deliveries began in November 2012
and end in May 2013.
"The Sikorsky S-92® is a modern design,
heavy-lift rotorcraft that brings economic
efficiencies to our operators, and it is a very
important part of the oil-and-gas and
search-and-rescue market segments. Ex-Im Bank's
capital-markets financing facilitates the
business transaction of this large capital
investment. This financing vehicle makes the
S-92® helicopter an even better fit for our
customers," said Bob Kokorda, vice president of
Worldwide Sales for Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. is a global leader in
the design, manufacture and service of
commercial and military rotary-wing and
fixed-wing aircraft. The company has a
U.S.-based workforce of approximately 13,000
employees, including 6,630 in Stratford, Conn.,
and 875 in Coatesville, Pa.
"We are proud to have been selected by Ex-Im
Bank as the partner for their largest
helicopter financing and the first
capital-markets transaction to support the
export of U.S.-manufactured helicopters," said
Milestone Aviation Group Chairman Richard
Santulli. "The support of Ex-Im Bank, and the
dedication and professionalism of its
Transportation team, has been instrumental in
helping us place Sikorsky aircraft
internationally and given us the confidence to
order more units of the world-class S-92®."
Milestone Aviation Group is the first global
aircraft leasing company to focus exclusively
on helicopters. Milestone partners with
helicopter operators globally and supports them
through 100 percent operating-lease financing.
The company provides financing for helicopters,
serving primarily the offshore oil-and-gas
industry as well as search-and-rescue,
emergency medical services, police
surveillance, mining and other utility
missions. Since launching in August 2010,
Milestone has acquired more than 90 aircraft
valued at more than $1.3 billion and closed
leases with 21 operators in 20 countries.
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