Bombardier gets jumbo credit deal from China

BEIJING: Canada's Bombardier, the third-largest aircraft maker in the world behind Airbus and Boeing, says it has secured a financing deal worth up to $8 billion from a Chinese leasing firm.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed by the two firms, ICBC Leasing will provide customers of Bombardier with advance payment financing, delivery financing and leasing solutions for some commercial and business jets.

"This MOU provides mutual benefits to Bombardier and ICBC Leasing since it addresses both parties' objectives of providing optimised aircraft solutions to operators in China and elsewhere," Bombardier Aerospace President Guy Hachey said in a statement dated Thursday.

ICBC Leasing is a subsidiary of banking giant Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

The deal also covers financing for Bombardier Aerospace and its affiliates in the areas of service and production, the statement said.

ICBC Leasing will provide Bombardier Aerospace with credit facilities, hedging and settlement services through affiliates of ICBC as well, it added.

Officials at ICBC Leasing were not immediately available to comment when contacted by AFP on Friday.

Last year, Bombardier agreed a $3.85 billion customer financing deal with China Development Ban's leasing unit, as it seeks to boost sales in the Asian nation's fast-growing market, the Wall Street Journal said Friday.

With big US and European banks tight-fisted after the global credit crisis, Chinese lenders have been seen as an important source of potential capital financing for airlines looking to restock their ageing fleets, it said.