EXIM Approves $500 Million in Financing to Support U.S.-Manufactured Commercial Aircraft Exports to WestJet
August 6, 2021
(Ex-Im Bank)
Transaction Supports an Estimated 2,900 U.S.
Jobs in Aircraft Manufacturing and Supply
Chain
WASHINGTON – The Board of Directors of the
Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM)
yesterday approved a $500 million loan
guarantee to support exports of
U.S.-manufactured Boeing 787-9 aircraft to
WestJet Airlines Ltd., headquartered in
Calgary, Alberta. EXIM’s loan guarantee is
estimated to support 2,900 American aerospace
jobs at The Boeing Company’s manufacturing
facilities, primarily in South Carolina, and at
Boeing’s suppliers throughout the United
States.
The asset-backed transaction includes EXIM’s
Bridge-Backstop financing, one of the
agency’s temporary COVID-19 relief measures
approved by the Board of Directors in 2020.
Bridge-Backstop financing offers flexible
prepayment options to the borrower and
facilitates replacing the EXIM financing with
commercial financing as market conditions
warrant.
“This transaction represents well-structured,
prudent lending, and it fills a present gap in
aircraft financing in the private sector,”
said Acting President and Chairman James
Burrows. “EXIM’s ability to move forward in
the aerospace sector helps to provide
confidence to commercial lenders that these
transactions remain creditworthy.”
EXIM’s Board of Directors voted on Thursday
following the referral of the transaction for a
35-day congressional review period that began
on July 1 and expired on August 4. Notification
of the transaction was also posted on the
Federal Register for a period ending July 27.
Comments received in response to the Federal
Register notice were from the Aerospace
Industries Association (AIA), and a Boeing
supplier, Solvay Specialty Polymers USA, LLC,
in Alpharetta, Georgia. Both expressed strong
support for EXIM’s financing of the aircraft
exports to WestJet.
AIA Senior Vice President for Policy Remy
Nathan noted that “EXIM’s financing is
vital for certainty” for U.S. businesses of
all sizes in the supply chain. “Support from
U.S. government agencies like EXIM provides our
industry with the ability to compete in the
global market, keep our manufacturing
industrial base strong, create jobs and drive
economic growth,” Nathan wrote. AIA currently
has more than 300 member companies.
Under EXIM’s Bridge-Backstop financing, EXIM
staff underwrites and seeks approval for the
full repayment term. The borrower has the
option to prepay the EXIM-guaranteed loan at
one or more agreed-upon dates from commencement
of the financing or opt to continue for the
full repayment term. The borrower may prepay
the EXIM financing in full on the option
date(s), which it selects, subject to EXIM’s
approval, and thereby recoup the portion of the
premium associated with the unused portion of
the EXIM financing.
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