London, 3rd June 2011

 

  Intesa and UniCredit to finance UTair for the acquisition of a new ATR fleet

 

 

UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo (Paris Branch) have recently signed an ECA Facility Agreement for the number one Russian domestic Airline UTair Aviation JSC, to finance its acquisition of a fleet of 20 new ATR 72-500 regional aircraft. The transaction is valued at US $ 426 million. UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo acted as co-mandated lead arrangers and sole underwriters, for 50% each. UniCredit is acting as ECA Agent, SACE Agent and Security Trustee. Intesa Sanpaolo is acting as Coface Agent.

 

The deal has a tenor of 13.5 years and is 95% supported on a fifty-fifty basis by French export credit agency Coface and Italian export credit agency SACE. This transaction is one of the largest ever concluded for the ATR consortium, a fifty-fifty joint venture between EADS and Alenia Aeronautica (Finmeccanica Group). With the entry into service of these new aircraft, UTair will respond to the increasing market demand for regional connectivity in Russia, adding seat capacity on existing routes and opening new routes. UTair already operates a fleet of 17 ATRs. With the delivery of the new 20 ATR 72-500s, UTair will become the largest operator of ATR aircraft in Europe, with 37 ATRs.

 

“This important ECA Aircraft Finance deal further intensified the existing good relationships between UniCredit and both ATR and UTair” underlines Francesca Beomonte, Head of Structured Trade & Export Finance UniCredit Italy.

 

“Intesa Sanpaolo is glad to have closed this complex Export Lease financing in Russia, which was achieved thanks to a proactive teamwork among the Manufacturer, the ECAs, the Legal Advisers, the Airline and the Banks,” said Jean-Michel Rudent, Head of SEF at Intesa Sanpaolo Paris Branch.

 

Filippo Bagnato, Chief Executive Officer of ATR, declares: “We are happy that major banks as UniCredit S.p.A and Intesa Sanpaolo with the support of the export credit agencies Coface from France and SACE from Italy have financed 20 ATR aircraft and consider our family of aircraft as a primary asset class. We are also pleased to see how they succeed to implement a complex financing structure. Thanks to their efforts, the introduction of the ATR 72-500s into Russia is now a reality”.

 

 

About Intesa Sanpaolo

Intesa Sanpaolo is among the top banking groups in the euro zone, with a market capitalisation of 29.4 billion euro (1), and leader in Italy in all business areas (retail, corporate and wealth management). Thanks to a network of approximately 5,700 branches capillary and well distributed throughout the country, with market shares above 15% in most Italian regions, the Group offers its services to about 11 million customers. Intesa Sanpaolo has a selected presence in Central-Eastern Europe and Middle Eastern and North African countries with a network of more than 1,700 branches and 8.3 million customers of subsidiaries operating in retail and commercial banking in 13 countries. Moreover, the international network specialised in supporting corporate customers is present in 29 countries, in particular the Middle Eastern and North African area and those areas where Italian companies are most active, such as the United States, Russia, China and India. The Corporate & Investment Banking Division follows Italian and foreign firms with a turnover exceeding 150 million euros, as well as both Italian and international banking and insurance groups and financial dealers. In order to guarantee consistent high-quality service, the Division has chosen to provide itself with: structures devoted to the “relationship” with the clientele of reference so as to be able to follow businesses and financial institutions 365 days a year and managements and companies devoted to the study and making ready of services and products in the forefront, always in line with the objectives and strategies of all its customers, among which Banca IMI, the Group’s investment bank and number one operator on the Italian market of reference, Leasint and Mediofactoring, both leaders in Italy in their sectors of reference and among the first in Europe.

 

 

About UniCredit Corporate & Investment Banking:

UniCredit is a major international financial institution with strong roots in 22 European countries as well as representative offices in 27 other markets, with about 9,600 branches and approximately 162,000 employees. In the CEE region, UniCredit operates the largest international banking network with around 4,000 branches and outlets. UniCredit's Corporate & Investment Banking gives companies, from small and medium Corporates to multinationals and institutional clients, access to the largest network of banks in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as to branches in major financial centers worldwide. The successful collaboration between our network’s relationship managers and specialists in our product lines (Financing & Advisory, Markets, Leasing, Global Transaction Banking) enables UniCredit to respond promptly to our clients’ entrepreneurial requirements. Thus, UniCredit supports the growth and internationalization of the Group’s corporate and institutional clients, creating sustainable value for all stakeholders. Global Transaction Banking at UniCredit combines the local expertise of over 2,000 professionals with the knowledge and experience of a truly sophisticated global transaction bank. Its diverse and proven set of core competencies in the fields of Cash Management , Trade Finance, Structured Trade & Export Finance and Global Securities Services has won widespread recognition as shown by the many international awards it regularly receives (gtb.unicredit.eu).

 

 

Enquiries:

 

UniCredit Media Relations: Tel. +39 02 88628236; e-mail: MediaRelations@unicredit.eu

 

Intesa Sanpaolo – Media Relations, Corporate & Investment Banking: Tel. +39 0287963851,

email: stampa@intesasanpaolo.com