Butterfield Bank Awarded Bermuda 'Deal Of The Year'

by Phillip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

08 May 2007

Butterfield Bank announced last week that it has received the ‘Deal of the Year 2007’ award for Bermuda from The Banker magazine, a Financial Times publication.

The Bank received the award for its role as sole underwriter and issue sponsor of a rights offering of 2.5 million common shares of Bermuda Aviation Services. Rights were issued to BAS shareholders in February 2006 in a deal valued at BM$15.8 million (1 BM$ equals 1 US$).

BAS is one of Bermuda’s leading non-financial services public companies and the largest operator at the Island’s international airport.

Over 80% of existing BAS shareholders exercised their rights to acquire additional shares under a 1 for 1 offer. New investors acquired the remaining rights on the market. Funds raised through the transaction allowed BAS to retire all existing corporate debt and buy back the bulk of shares held by minority shareholders in certain of its subsidiary companies. The market value of the company doubled as a result of the transaction, leading the Bermuda Stock Exchange to graduate BAS to the main board for domestic, large-cap companies in Bermuda.

In awarding Butterfield Bank, The Banker heralded the significance of the deal, noting that it marked “the reopening of the equity market” in Bermuda. The Butterfield Bank-BAS deal was the first major local capital markets underwriting transaction in Bermuda in over ten years involving transferable rights and, at the time, was the largest ever rights issue by a local Bermuda corporation underwritten by a Bermuda bank. BAS was the first local company on the Island to have issued shares in this way for several years, creating a new opportunity for investors.

Richard Ferrett, Chief Financial Officer of Butterfield Bank, said, “This award helps bring recognition to the capital markets capabilities of Butterfield Bank and reflects the fact that, although the Bermuda market generally has low trading volumes and issuance activity, we do have a sophisticated and transparent capital markets infrastructure in place on the Island.”

Michael Darling, Chairman of BAS noted in his annual letter to shareholders (dated 31 May 2006) that, “The most important event (for the company) this year was the rights issue… we were able to retire 100% of the company’s debt (and funds remaining) will be used to make further acquisitions when opportunities present themselves.”

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