A Cayman Islands legal team at Maples Group advised on Philippine Airlines’ first international bond offering, which raised US$300 million through a Cayman-incorporated issuing vehicle.
The five-year senior unsecured guaranteed bonds were issued by Primero Agila Limited, a wholly owned Cayman subsidiary of Philippine Airlines, and will be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited.
According to Maples in a press release on 22 July, the offering drew demand of more than $1.4 billion, making it over 4.5 times oversubscribed. The bonds were priced at a reoffer yield of 8%.
The transaction marks Philippine Airlines’ first bond offering since emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the United States in December 2021.
Maples said the deal also represents the first rated high-yield bond offering by a Philippine-owned issuer in more than a decade, the first unsecured rated high-yield bond issued by an Asian airline and the first rated airline bond issuance from South and Southeast Asia.
The airline said proceeds from the offering will fund fleet modernisation and international expansion, including additional flights to Chicago, New York, Toronto and Vancouver.
The Cayman asset finance team at Maples acted as Cayman legal counsel on all aspects of the transaction.
The team was led by partner Shari Howell with support from associates Sorcha O’Keefe and Hailee Robinson.
“We are pleased to have supported PAL on this landmark transaction and congratulate the airline on a resoundingly successful inaugural international bond offering,” Howell said.
“We’re also delighted to have been able to bring our cross-border asset finance expertise to a transaction that represents such an important milestone for PAL, the aviation sector and the Philippine capital markets.”
The transaction adds to a growing pipeline of cross-border aviation finance work handled from Cayman.
Sherice Arman, co-head of the Cayman asset finance group, said it has been a privilege to support PAL on its first international bond offering.
“Our global asset finance team has remained active throughout the first half of 2026, advising on a range of aviation transactions, including several high-value ABS deals,” she said.
“We are pleased to continue supporting our clients in achieving their aviation financing objectives.”
