Consolidation of the aircraft leasing sector has taken another leap forward. Dublin-based Avolon Holdings Limited has officially completed the acquisition of the aircraft leasing business of CIT Group Inc in a $10.38bn transaction. The deal doubles Avalon’s size and makes it the world’s third-largest aircraft leasing company, with a fleet of 868 aircraft valued at over $43bn.
Avolon now serves 149 customers in 62 countries with approximately one-third of in-service aircraft leased into each of the Americas, Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific regions.
The CIT acquisition comes just 15 months after the completion of Avolon’s acquisition by China’s Bohai Capital Holding Co. Ltd., which is part of the HNA Group. In a separate deal involving top-ranked leasing companies, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise recently acquired AWAS.
CIT and Avolon combined had an owned fleet of 551 aircraft as of 31st December 2016 with an average aircraft age of 4.7 years. According to Avolon this is the youngest fleet among the top three aircraft leasing companies.
The combined company has total orders and commitments for 301 aircraft include 282 new-technology aircraft comprising: 196 Airbus aircraft (A320neo family, A330neo and A350); 61 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft; and 25 Boeing 787 aircraft.
More M&A activity could lie ahead. Avolon describes the combined company as “well capitalised to pursue further growth opportunities across multiple acquisition channels”.