Leading global aircraft leasing firm SMBC Aviation Capital has completed its largest ever bond offering following its debut capital markets issuance in 2016.

The company’s wholly owned subsidiary, SMBC Aviation Capital Finance DAC, has closed the sale of $1.5 billion five and ten-year senior unsecured notes at a principal amount of 5.30% and 5.55% respectively.

SMBC said the notes are “fully and unconditionally” guaranteed by SMBC Aviation Capital.

The bond placement – priced at US Treasuries plus 108 and 135 basis points for the five and ten year tranches respectively – is SMBC Aviation Capital’s first dual tranche offering.

SMBC Aviation Capital said the $1.5 billion debt facility “demonstrates the importance of the company’s bond programme to its capital structure, allowing access to debt at different points of the tenor curve”.

“This latest transaction represents the company’s single largest bond issuance to date, underlining investor appetite for exposure to the business and further strengthens the company’s financial position,” the firm added in a statement.

Aisling Kenny, chief financial officer of SMBC Aviation Capital, said: “This issuance is the ninth bond offering by the business since the inception of our bond programme in 2016 and represents the single largest issuance in our company’s history.

“The size of the offering reflects the increased scale of our balance sheet which has more than doubled in size since 2020 thanks to the significant level of well-timed growth executed during this strategic point in the cycle.

“Our ability to access long-term debt at competitive pricing, together with the backing of our shareholders, will support our ability to further capitalise on the opportunities that will be presented by this strong market backdrop.”