A new Guernsey company has listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) offering investment in an A380 aircraft operated by Emirates.
The company's investment objective is to provide investors with income and capital returns through investment in this asset.
Doric Nimrod Air One has been established by London-based financial advisers, Nimrod Capital and Doric Asset Finance, a Frankfurt-based aircraft leasing group that specialises in financing A380s.
Doric has arranged similar investment vehicles in Germany for some of the eight other A380s it has financed for Emirates and Singapore Airlines, which was the first operator to put the world's largest passenger aircraft into commercial service in October 2007. However, these were unquoted private partnerships and in an article on 13th December 2010, the Financial Times remarked that the new company is thought to be the first to be listed on a regulated stock exchange, such as the LSE.
The new Guernsey-incorporated entity is listed on the LSE's Specialist Fund Market (SFM) and also the Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX). It has Herbert Smith in London and Mourant Ozannes in Guernsey as legal advisers and is being administered in Guernsey by Anson Fund Managers Limited.
Peter Niven, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance – the promotional agency for the Island's finance industry, said: "It is extremely pleasing to see that once again Guernsey is home to another 'first' in the investment sector. The Island's infrastructure and expertise means that we are increasingly recognised as the domicile of choice for the structuring and administration of companies investing in the widest range of asset classes. The listing of this niche vehicle on both the SFM and CISX will only add to Guernsey's reputation as a tried and tested route for launching specialised investment companies."
Shortly after its admission to the SFM and to the CISX, Doric Nimrod Air One Limited used the proceeds of its placing in conjunction with capital from Australia's Westpac Bank to acquire the A380 aircraft valued at $180 million (£114 million) and subsequently leased the aircraft to Emirates for 12 years.
Doric Nimrod Air One targets returning 2.25 pence per £1 share per quarter to investors, which the backers say will amount to compounded annualised yield of about 9 per cent. When the lease expires, the company will have the option to sell the aircraft and pay investors out from its residual value.
The promoters of the company have emphasised that their aircraft's engines are made by Engine Alliance, a consortium of the US groups General Electric and Pratt & Whitney. Airbus, the European manufacturer that makes the A380, offers a choice of either Rolls-Royce or Engine Alliance engines for the jet and Emirates has chosen only those made by Engine Alliance for the 90 superjumbos it has bought or ordered.
For more information about Guernsey's finance industry please visit www.guernseyfinance.com.
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