American International Group Inc.'s plane-leasing unit offered a higher yield than similarly rated companies on its first bonds since May as it seeks to pay back debt and finance aircraft purchases.

International Lease Finance Corp., rated B1 by Moody's Investors Service and BBB- by Standard & Poor's, sold $650 million of 8.625 percent, 10-year notes, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with the average 4.51 percent yield for debt on the lowest investment-grade tier of BBB and 8.99 percent on bonds with B grades, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data.

The cost to protect the world's largest independent aircraft lessor's debt from default rose to the highest since December 2009 in October after the bailed-out AIG said a month earlier that it planned to sell more than 20 percent of Los Angeles-based ILFC and divest most of the unit over time. That has since declined as ILFC said it signed leases for all of its 2012 new aircraft deliveries and shows a "strong position in high-growth emerging markets," according to Gimme Credit LLC.