EXIM Approves $97.2 Million Working Capital Guarantee Facility to Support Embraer Executive Aircraft Exports Manufactured in Melbourne, Florida
August 13, 2021
(Ex-Im Bank)
Transaction Supports an Estimated 700 U.S. Jobs in Business Aircraft
Manufacturing and Supply Chain
WASHINGTON – The Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United
States (EXIM) yesterday unanimously approved a $97.2 million, two-year revolving
working capital loan guarantee facility to support exports of business jet
aircraft manufactured by Embraer Executive Aircraft, Inc. (EEA) in Melbourne,
Florida. EXIM’s working capital loan guarantee is estimated to support
approximately $200 million of EEA’s executive aircraft exports and 700
American aerospace jobs at the company’s manufacturing facility in Melbourne
and at suppliers across the United States.
The transaction is a renewal of EXIM’s working capital loan guarantee facility
approved in July 2020 and leverages EXIM’s COVID-19 relief measures. These
steps taken by the EXIM Board of Directors in March 2020 continue to provide
financing consistency and reliability during this historic pandemic and ensure
that American jobs in the aircraft industry and related supply chains remain
dependable.
COVID-19 pandemic-related travel restrictions have prevented EEA’s foreign
buyers from traveling to the United States to take delivery of their purchased
aircraft and complete payments, which has affected on EEA’s revenue stream.
The EXIM-backed revolving loan facility will help EEA to meet its working
capital needs during the two-year term of the facility. EXIM will have a
first-priority security interest in EEA’s inventory of executive aircraft.
The guaranteed lender is Apple Bank for Savings in New York, New York. The
financing was arranged and is serviced by AirFinance Leasing, LLC, in Virginia
Beach, Virginia, which is an EXIM Qualified Advisor that has originated and
serviced numerous EXIM-backed asset financings over the past decade.
“This transaction demonstrates that EXIM can step in to make a critical
difference for U.S. exporters and the workers that have been adversely affected
by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Acting President and Chairman James Burrows.
“The pandemic has affected the liquidity of commercial lenders and their
ability to make new loans, which has, in turn, hit the aircraft and aviation
industries particularly hard. EXIM’s support enables these loan facilities to
continue to support America’s aerospace manufacturers and the jobs that their
exports create and sustain.”
Embraer Executive Aircraft, Inc., operates its manufacturing facility on the
north side of Florida’s Melbourne International Airport and has approximately
2,000 U.S. employees. The company’s executive jet portfolio consists of the
entry-level Phenom 100EV, the light Phenom 300E, the midsize Praetor 500, and
the super-midsize Praetor 600. The fleet exceeds 1,400 aircraft in more than 70
countries.
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