NAV CANADA, the country's non-share capital provider of civil air navigation services, which pioneered the innovative Canadian “revenue bond” in 1996, has created a new borrowing program called “General Obligation Notes.” On February 24, 2006, the company sold two series of five- and 10-year notes for proceeds of $700 million at favourable spreads over the applicable Government of Canada benchmark bonds. The notes, the first of NAV CANADA's new unsecured and subordinated General Obligation Note program, were issued under a base shelf prospectus filed February 20, 2006, which qualifies $1.7 billion of notes over its 25-month term. The General Obligation Notes are unsecured obligations, created to replace the company's 1996 secured Capital Markets Platform, which is being phased out as existing revenue bonds mature or are redeemed. The General Obligation Notes, which are subordinate to Capital Markets Platform borrowings, achieved ratings of AA- (or equivalent) from S&P, Moody's and DBRS, one notch lower than the senior debt.
In developing the new structure, NAV CANADA was represented by Guy David, Hugh Cowan and Michael Boehm of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP in Ottawa. Local counsel support on the note issuance from other Gowlings' offices came from Léonard Serafini and Pierre Lissoir in Montreal, Brian Mainwaring in Calgary and Brett Kagetsu in Vancouver. Mihkel Voore, Maurice Swan and William Van Horne of Stikeman Elliott LLP in Toronto represented RBC Dominion Securities Inc. as financial advisor on the new program and the RBC-led dealer syndicate on the note issuance.
In developing the new structure, NAV CANADA was represented by Guy David, Hugh Cowan and Michael Boehm of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP in Ottawa. Local counsel support on the note issuance from other Gowlings' offices came from Léonard Serafini and Pierre Lissoir in Montreal, Brian Mainwaring in Calgary and Brett Kagetsu in Vancouver. Mihkel Voore, Maurice Swan and William Van Horne of Stikeman Elliott LLP in Toronto represented RBC Dominion Securities Inc. as financial advisor on the new program and the RBC-led dealer syndicate on the note issuance.
