ISTAT Americas was held in early March and the Cirium team was thrilled to be in attendance along with top aviation finance industry professionals. We’ve pulled together five key highlights you can’t afford to ignore.
Era of high-priced leasing platforms over according to SMBC Aviation Capital
The era of buyers paying high prices to acquire leasing platforms has come to an end, in the view of SMBC Aviation Capital chief financial officer Aisling Kenny.
“Looking at the M&A landscape, I think the thing that sellers may have to get used to, in that environment, is [that] a period of very low interest rates and access to capital – and therefore high sales prices for business – is behind us, and sellers are going to have to get used to that in terms of prospective buyers.”
Apollo outlines scope of new Perseus Aviation leasing platform
Apollo’s new platform Perseus Aviation, with a name likewise drawn from Greek mythology, will be a sibling company of PK AirFinance and will fall under Apollo Aligned Alternatives (AAA), a fund established in 2022 specializing in alternative investments. Read more, here.
ALC creates ‘price tension’ with $600 million sukuk
Air Lease Corporation’s sukuk issuance was “a fantastic way to diversify away from the US bond market”, says chief financial officer Greg Willis. He says ALC was told it is the first US corporate to successfully tap the Islamic financing structure and he believes it was able to do so thanks to its “strong” investment grade ratings.
Most new-generation engines not meeting expectations according to ALC
“Whether it’s the Leap engines, the Pratt GTF… even the GEnx engine, the Trent 1000, Trent 7000 – none of these engines are as reliable or dependable as their predecessor engines,” says Air Lease Corporation executive chairman Steve Udvar-Hazy.
“Yes, they have a better fuel burn, but the maintenance reliability and cost of operating these engines in many cases outweighs the fuel-burn advantages.”
Get the complete story, here.
Azul plans to make lessors whole after concessions
Azul intends to repay its aircraft lessors the entire sums they are owed as part of a recently brokered restructuring agreement, chairman David Neeleman has emphasized.
“The goal is to return 100% of the money to everybody – just give us some breathing room to get through this.”
In addition to these editor’s picks, check out these additional insights from ISTAT Americas:
- HALO AirFinance Looks to Close First Secured Loans
- Air Lease Concerned by China’s ‘Apparent Coziness’ with Russia
- ABS Market Return Important for ‘Greater Good’ of Industry
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