Textron Financial Corporation Expedites Full Repayment of EXIM $500 Million Direct Loan
Washington, D.C. - Today the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) announced that Textron Financial Corporation (TFC) has expedited and pre-paid in full the $500 million direct-loan facility that was approved by EXIM in 2009. TFC, located in Wichita, Kansas, finances exports made by Textron Inc., including Cessna aircraft and Bell helicopters.
EXIM's loan facility enabled Textron to provide financing to international customers that received delivery of new Cessna aircraft and Bell commercial helicopters. At the time of EXIM's authorization in 2009, EXIM's funding was needed to assist TFC in continuing to finance those exports with competitive repayment terms and interest rates. The facility also enabled EXIM to leverage its resources and support a large number of individual U.S. exports.
TFC repaid in eight years the EXIM loan facility that carried a repayment term of 10 years. Additionally, TFC has also fully repaid two EXIM-guaranteed loans from other lenders that were authorized after 2009.
"This is an excellent example of how EXIM Bank can step in for the private sector to ensure that vital U.S. export sales go forward while ensuring that the taxpayers' interests are fully protected. EXIM's loan facility to TFC enabled the exports of about 150 Textron aircraft and supported the jobs of thousands of U.S. workers at these companies," said EXIM Acting Chairman and President Charles J. Hall.
"Not only did EXIM's financing support thousands of American jobs and enable some $700 million of Textron exports to go forward, but it also earned $15 million in fees and interest for the taxpayers. This was a win for the exporter, a win for the U.S. economy, and a win for the American people," he added.
TFC is a commercial finance company that provides financing for products manufactured by its parent company, Textron Inc., which is a multi-industry company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, with a global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses. Textron Aviation (formerly Cessna Aircraft Company) employs approximately 9,500 workers at its manufacturing plants in Wichita and Independence, Kansas. Bell Helicopter is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, and also has a manufacturing facility in Amarillo. Bell Helicopter has more than 5,600 U.S. employees.
ABOUT EXIM BANK:
EXIM Bank is an independent federal agency that supports and maintains U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees and export credit insurance, to promote the sale of U.S. goods and services abroad. Almost 90 percent of its transactions directly serve American small businesses.
In fiscal year 2016 (October 1, 2015, through September 30, 2016), EXIM approved $5 billion in total authorizations to support an estimated $8 billion of U.S. export sales. Since FY 2009, EXIM has supported more than 1.4 million American jobs in communities across the country and sent $3.8 billion of surplus to the U.S. Treasury for deficit reduction.
For more information about EXIM, please visit www.exim.gov.