DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

CDB Aviation, a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (“CDB Leasing”), announced today that the lessor entered into a US$700 million facility agreement secured with a portfolio of Airbus and Boeing narrowbody and widebody aircraft on lease to various of the lessor’s airline customers.

The facility is financed by a group of leading MLA banks, including Natixis, CACIB, BNP Paribas, the Korean Development Bank, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, Bank of Communications Co., Ltd. Hong Kong Branch, Bank of Communications Co., Ltd. (acting through its offshore banking unit), CaixaBank, S.A., and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited.

Natixis, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (“CACIB”), and BNP Paribas acted as Coordinators and Sustainability Structuring Advisors. CACIB also acted as the Facility Agent, Security Trustee, and Sustainability Agent.

“This facility marks a significant achievement in our platform’s fundraising journey that was only possible because of the strong support from everyone involved, building on our platform’s robust ability to engage global financial institutions, the strong competencies and efforts of our entire team, and the unwavering support of our shareholder,” commented Jie Chen, CDB Aviation’s Chief Executive Officer.

Structured as a Sustainability Linked Loan (“SLL”), the seven-year facility is considered the industry’s first SLL-based aircraft portfolio financing executed by an aircraft lessor globally. Moody’s Investors assigned a best-in-class SQS2 rating, confirming the facility’s conformity with the Sustainability Linked Loan Principles (“SLLPs”).

“I would like to thank our Capital Markets team for their extraordinary efforts in raising a record volume of funds from the capital markets and involving the largest number of bank participants, making CDB Aviation a very active player in this market. I also want to acknowledge the Legal team who continue to provide their critical support in our funding activities and express our gratitude to the airline customers for their crucial engagement,” concluded Chen.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, beliefs or opinions, including with respect to CDB Aviation’s business, financial condition, results of operations or plans. CDB Aviation cautions readers that no forward-looking statement is a guarantee of future performance and that actual results or other financial condition or performance measures could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate only to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements sometimes use words such as ”may,” “will,” “seek,” “continue,” “aim,” “anticipate,” “target,” “projected,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “goal,” “believe,” “achieve” or other terminology or words of similar meaning. These statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of CDB Aviation’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results and we do not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable law, we do not undertake any obligation to, and will not, update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About CDB Aviation

CDB Aviation is a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (“CDB Leasing”) a 39-year-old Chinese leasing company that is backed mainly by the China Development Bank. CDB Aviation is rated Investment Grade by Moody’s (A2), S&P Global (A), and Fitch (A+). China Development Bank is under the direct jurisdiction of the State Council of China and is the world’s largest development finance institution. It is also the largest Chinese bank for foreign investment and financing cooperation, long-term lending and bond issuance, enjoying Chinese sovereign credit rating.

CDB Leasing is the only leasing arm of the China Development Bank and a leading company in China’s leasing industry that has been engaged in aircraft, infrastructure, ship, commercial vehicle and construction machinery leasing and enjoys a Chinese sovereign credit rating. It took an important step in July 2016 to globalize and marketize its business – listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX STOCK CODE: 1606).

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