Investec Aviation Finance showed its prominence as a leader in Africa by winning the Deal of the Year – Africa award for the second year in a row at the prestigious Air Finance Journal Awards.

 

Investec Aviation Finance showed its prominence as a leader in Africa by winning the Deal of the Year – Africa award for the second year in a row at the prestigious Air Finance Journal Awards.

 

The winning transaction consisted of three components, and were completed on behalf of Air Austral and its subsidiary, EWA Air, during 2019. The transactions involved a pre-delivery payment (PDP) facility on  three Airbus A220-300s, a revolving credit note issue and a note issue to fund a French tax lease of two new ATR 72-600s (the last of the three on behalf of EWA Air).

 

The deals involved a number of firsts, including the first aircraft-secured private placement note and first revolving credit private placement note issuance for a French Airline.

 

The transaction demonstrated the global capabilities of the Investec group with Investec Bank Limited (Johannesburg) as lead arranger, security trustee, agent and lender for all the transactions, while Investec Bank plc (London) and Investec Bank (Mauritius) Limited (Port Louis) participated in the transactions.

 

Investec worked closely with Paris-based La Banque Postale, who provided the structurally subordinated loan underlying the tax benefit regarding the French tax lease for the two ATR 72-600s.

 

David Minty, head of Aviation Finance at Investec, says the award showed Investec’s capabilities in creating innovative solutions, often under tight deadlines to support airlines and manufacturers.

 

“The PDP, RCF and French tax lease all brought their own levels of complexity. It’s testimony to our approach and the willingness of our partners that we were able to deliver a solution tailored to the needs of the Air Austral group,” says Minty.