Bombardier refinances debt with $500m senior notes offering

Bombardier now has a book to bill ratio of 3.6x.

Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier announced closing of a $500m offering of Senior Notes due 2035, carrying a coupon of 5.875%, in a move that continues the Canadian business jet maker’s steady march towards a cleaner balance sheet.

The new notes, sold at par and maturing January 15, 2035, will be used primarily to redeem all $750m of the company’s outstanding 7.50% Senior Notes due 2029, with cash on hand covering the remainder.

The 2029 notes will be retired on May 19, following a conditional redemption notice issued on May 4.

The transaction is the latest in a series of liability management exercises Bombardier has executed. In February, the company repaid $500m of its Senior Notes due 2028, following that up in March with the full repayment of the remaining $250m of that same tranche, both funded from cash on the balance sheet.

A further $108m of Canadian debentures maturing in December 2026 are scheduled for repayment on June 26.

Taken together, the moves represent a meaningful reshaping of Bombardier’s maturity profile.

The 2029 redemption in particular cuts a higher-coupon liability, replacing it with a longer-dated note at a significantly lower rate. Bombardier currently holds issuer ratings of Ba3 from Moody’s and BB- from S&P. The company has shared ambition to become investment grade.

In its first quarter 2026 results, the company reported an adjusted net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio of 1.8x, down from 1.9x at year-end 2025, with a stated long-term target of approximately 1.5x.

Free cash flow for the first quarter came in at $360m, a $664m swing year-over-year, prompting management to raise its full-year free cash flow guidance to greater than $1.0bn.

Available liquidity sat at approximately $2.0bn as of March 31.