Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) issued bonds on November 4th, 2009, worth NIS 450 million.

The bonds were Shekel-based and unlinked, with an interest rate of 4.95 percent. The bonds will be redeemed in 2015, 2016, and 2017. The demand for the bonds was 4 times the quantity offered.

In order to minimize the company's exposure to fluctuations in the dollar exchange rate, the company intends to conduct currency hedging for the amount of the funds raised, as the majority of the company's income is in dollars.

Prior to the offering, the bond series received an "AA stable" ranking from the Ma'alot - S&P rating company.

The level of demand and the interest rate offered for the bonds reflect the confidence the public has in IAI as a financially stable company, particularly during a time of worldwide economic crisis. The company's strength stems in part from the major organizational changes that were made within the company and efficiencies achieved in the last few years.

The successful bond offering was led by three leading investment banks in Israel: Clal Finance Ltd., Poalim IBI & Underwriting Ltd., and Leader Capital Markets Ltd.

Legal assistance for the offering was provided by Goldfarb Law Offices.

Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) is the largest aerospace and defense industry in Israel. IAI is Israel's largest industrial exporter and a globally recognized leader in the defense and commercial markets.

IAI provides unique system-of-systems solutions for a broad spectrum of needs in space, air, land, sea, and homeland defense, including: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), radars, mission aircraft, AEW, EW, ELINT/ESM, SIGINT, and COMINT/COMJAM, aerial refueling, Anti-Tactical Ballistic Missiles (ATBM), missiles, smart weapons, satellites and launchers, navigation, upgrading of military aircraft and helicopters, maintenance and conversion of commercial aircraft, and many other core technologies, products, and services.

IAI employs 16,400 workers. Sales in 2008 reached $3.6 billion.