Bermuda Issuers: Raising Capital

David W.P. Cooke, Jason Piney • Posted 08/08/2011 • Under Articles

With the successful listing of Air Lease Corp on the NYSE earlier this year and several other aircraft leasing companies reportedly in the process of making preliminary filings, industry experts and commentators report that the equity markets are open for initial public offerings (IPOs) in the aircraft sector. Commentators also speculate that other lessors - including both established players and start-ups - are currently contemplating going public. And with renewed interest in the equity markets the same experts and commentators project that it will not be long until the aviation asset-backed securitisation (ABS) market returns.

Bermuda has long been the offshore jurisdiction of choice for public companies. The jurisdiction also continues to be an offshore leader in aviation finance, particularly innovative financing, and many in the know predict Bermuda will be at the fore of the revival of the capital markets in the aviation sector. Indeed, the recent US$290m GECAS the Rotor Engines Securitization, completed through Bermuda, suggests that the process has already begun. This is the first aviation securitisation that has closed since 2007.

In light of this, this article considers:

• Bermuda’s role in past lessor IPOs and ABS deals;
• the benefits of establishing in Bermuda; and
• matters specific to ABS deals, including bankruptcy remoteness.

A version of this article was published in The Lawyer. Click here to view.