Macquarie Bank has purchased 53 aircraft from AIG subsidiary International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) in a US$2bn (A$2.1bn) transaction.
Under the terms of the agreement, MacBank will acquire 47 aircraft worth US$1.67bn (A$1.8bn), while it will also transfer to its 37.5 per cent owned subsidiary Macquarie AirFinance the right to purchase six of the aircraft “on similar terms” to the bank.
“The portfolio of 47 aircraft comprises young, modern aircraft on lease to 35 airlines in 27 countries,” MacBank said in a statement, adding that narrowbodies made up “more than 70 per cent of the portfolio. The remainder of the portfolio are in-production widebody aircraft, well suited to the operating lease market. Macquarie considers the credit quality of the lessees to be above average for an aircraft operating lease portfolio.”
The transaction will be conducted over the remainder of the 2010 calendar year, and will be fully funded from existing cash reserves.
As well as its interest in Macquarie AirFinance, which was formed from the 2006 acquisition of GATX Air, MacBank also owns Macquarie Asset Leasing Trust, which owns nine aircraft on lease to Qantas.
