Business & Finance Club - Abu Dhabi : Waha Aerospace was given an AA debt rating by Standard & Poor’s, the credit company’s third- highest of 10 investment grades, after Abu Dhabi guaranteed the bond aimed at raising funds for the emirates’ military.

The proposed debt, to mature in 2020, “benefits from an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi,” and was thus assigned the same rating as the emirate, the biggest and richest of seven that make up the United Arab Emirates, S&P said in a statement. The guarantee runs to the end of the bond’s maturity, it said.

Netherlands-domiciled Waha Aerospace was set up by Waha Capital, an Abu Dhabi-based investment and leasing company, as a special-purpose entity to issue the bonds, the statement said. Mubadala Development Co. and Abu Dhabi Investment Co. hold stakes in Waha Capital, according to Mubadala’s website.

S&P’s rating on the bond, which will be used to finance the purchase of six Boeing Co.’s C-17 transportation aircrafts by the United Arab Emirates’ armed forces, is subject to final documentation, the note said.