17 Feb 2020

Irish Aircraft Leasing Newsletter 17 February

Aergo Capital announces sale of four Boeing 737-900ER aircraft Aergo Capital has completed the sale of two 2008 Vintage Boeing B737-900ER aircraft bearing manufacturers’ serial numbers 35713 and 35716, respectively, to PT Lion Mentari Airlines (Lion Air) and two 2018 Vintage Boeing B737-900ER aircraft bearing manufacturers’ serial numbers 43213 and 43214, respectively, to GTLK Asia Limited (GTLK). Avolon Successfully Reduces Price of US$850 Million of Senior Secured Term Loan B Facility Avolon announces the successful re-pricing of US$850 million of its senior secured US$2.58 billion Term Loan B facility. Avolon has repriced the $850 million tranche at LIBOR plus 1.50% and is subject to an Original Issue Discount (OID) of 99.75. The maturity of this $850 million tranche has been extended to 2027. In conjunction with this repricing, Avolon has also repaid 300 million of the original Facility, reducing the outstanding balance to US$2.28 billion. Andy Cronin, Avolon Chief Financial Officer, commented “This successful repricing is another step in reducing Avolon’s cost of funds. The repricing at LIBOR plus 1.50% represents a new sector low for a Term Loan B Facility. We have now reduced the overall size of the facility by over US$3 billion, supporting our objective of increasing unencumbered assets within our capital structure and securing this interest margin on the loan – one of the lowest in the Term Loan B market – highlights the level of investor confidence in our business.” BBAM Orders Three 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighters BBAM has ordered three 737-800 Boeing converted freighters (BCF) to add to its fleet.The 737-800BCF, which has a payload of up to 23.9 tonnes, is built using the next-generation 737 platform “known for its reliability and efficiency”. Steve Zissis, president and chief executive of BBAM, added “We chose Boeing’s conversion program because we believe it maximizes the platform’s capability and reliability. Through the Boeing freighter conversion program, these 737-800s will continue to deliver value for our customers and investors for many years to come. The 737-800 is an integral part of BBAM’s managed fleet of commercial passenger jet aircraft and we see strong interest from our customers in the standard-body freighter.” CDB Aviation Promotes Sign Kadouh to Head of Asia Pacific CDB Leasing, announced the promotion of Sign Kadouh to Head of Asia Pacific. Kadouh is being promoted to the new role from his previous position of Head of Commercial, Asia Pacific. In addition to continuing to lead the Asia Pacific commercial team and driving commercial and strategic activity within the region, including Greater China, South Asia, Southeast Asia, North Asia, Australasia, and the Pacific Islands, Kadouh also will be the operational leader for Asia Pacific, managing the day-to-day activities of the company’s Hong Kong office. Nordic Aviation Capital appoints Patrick de Castelbajac as CEO Nordic Aviation Capital announced the appointment of Patrick de Castelbajac as Chief Executive Officer, effective Q3 2020. Patrick will be based at NAC’s newly opened Headquarters in Limerick. Patrick has almost 20 years’ experience in the aviation industry. Most recently, he was President of Asia-Pacific region for Airbus. Prior to this, he was Executive Vice-President Strategy and International. Martin Moller, Chairman, and Founder of NAC commented “I am very pleased that Patrick has accepted the opportunity to lead NAC. Patrick has a long-standing relationship with the company having worked with many members of the team throughout his time as CEO at ATR. He has demonstrated strong leadership abilities in his previous roles and will undoubtedly build on the significant growth of the company to date. I wish him all the success in this new professional challenge.” NAC has successfully priced the largest ever US Private Placement issued by an aircraft lessor Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) confirmed that it has priced a record-breaking US Private Placement of $858.83 million. This is the largest Private Placement by an aircraft lessor in the history of the market. The pricing of the transaction was completed last week with closing and funding later this month. This follows last year’s record transaction of $786.25million, which at the time was the largest ever Senior Unsecured Private Placement issued by an aircraft lessor. The new transaction consists of three, five- and seven-year tenors with the bulk being five years. It has a weighted coupon of 3.92%. There are over 26 investors involved in the transaction; 8 of these represent new investor relationships. This is a strong testament to the rapidly growing investor confidence in NAC as the clear leader in the regional aircraft leasing industry. TrueNoord delivers second Dash 8-400 to Philippine Airlines TrueNoord, has delivered the second of two new Dash 8-400 aircraft which it has placed on long term operating lease agreements with Philippine Airlines (PAL). These aircraft (MSN 4610/4612) are the first Dash 8-400 aircraft manufactured by De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited to enter service in TrueNoord’s portfolio. Vedder Price Represents Zephyrus Aviation Capital in $350 Million Warehouse Finance Facility Vedder Price announced that it represented Zephyrus Aviation Capital in relation to its closing of a $350 million warehouse finance facility. The facility is specially designed for mid- to older-life aircraft and the unique financing opportunities that they present. This is the first warehouse facility for Zephyrus and follows the successful launch of the company's highly acclaimed ZCAP 2018-1 ABS facility in 2018. Acumen Aviation © 17 February 2020 All Rights Reserved.