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Aircraft lessor SMBC Aviation has raised $500 million (€412 million) through a bond issue, the Irish company said on Tuesday.
Dublin-based SMBC confirmed that it had closed the sale of $500 million in seven-year unsecured bonds repayable at 2.3 per cent.
SMBC said that the placement, at US Treasury rates plus 1.1 per cent, represented the lowest credit spread ever achieved in a bond issue by the company.
The firm will use the cash raised for general purposes, possibly including buying aircraft and repaying existing debt.
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International credit ratings agencies S&P and Fitch recently confirmed SMBC's investment grade A rating.
Barry Flannery, SMBC’s chief financial officer, dubbed the bond sale a “strong endorsement” of the company’s strength.
“As our airline customers now increasingly focus on the recovery and the pent-up demand for travel, we are positioned to capitalise on what will be a period of substantial change and opportunity ahead for the wider sector,” he said.