Three Dubai banks participate in landmark financing facility for Dubai Aerospace Enterprise

Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK), First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) and Noor Bank have announced the signing of a landmark financing facility for Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE).

The initial amount is $480 million and is expandable to $800 million. The facility has a four year tenor and features both conventional and Islamic tranches.

The facility has been arranged through a syndicated structure with ABK serving as the Coordinating Mandated Lead Arranger and Bookrunner, together with UAE-based FAB acting as Mandated Lead Arranger and Bookrunner and Noor Bank as Mandated Lead Arranger. FAB will also act as the Global Agent, Facility Agent and Investment Agent, whilst Noor Bank will act as the Islamic Structuring Agent.

The financing will support DAE’s purchase of the aircraft, spare engines and pre-delivery financing that the Borrower intends to dispose of or refinance. DAE currently has a fleet of nearly 400 Airbus, ATR and Boeing aircraft with a fleet value of over US$ 14 billion.

“The financing facility for DAE is one of the largest transactions of its kind involving conventional and Islamic tranches, making it a landmark deal for the region,” said Michel Accad, Group CEO at ABK.

“We are pleased to sign this landmark regional transaction led by ABK, FAB and Noor Bank. This transaction underlines both the regional liquidity available to top quality names and the strength of the DAE franchise. This facility further diversifies our funding sources and adds to the unsecured component of our liquidity profile increasing our unsecured revolving credit facilities to $1,125—$1,445 million depending on the final committed amount of this facility. On a pro forma basis as of December 2017, if this facility is fully drawn and if the proceeds are used to pay down secured indebtedness, DAE’s percentage of unsecured debt would increase from 26 per cent to a range of 31 per cent-34 per cent,” said Firoz Tarapore, Chief Executive Officer of DAE.

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise is one of the largest aircraft leasing companies in the world. Headquartered in Dubai and with over 30 years of experience, DAE’s leasing and engineering divisions serve over 125 airline customers around the world from its six offices in Dubai, Dublin, Singapore and the US.

Legal Council for the lenders were Clyde& Co and for the borrowers Clifford Chance.