In a June 6 regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), American International Group (AIG), parent of International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), confirmed that it received the scheduled deposit from Chinese consortium Jumbo Acquisition Limited on June 5 relating to the sale of up to 90% of the aircraft lessor stock. Jumbo Acquisition is an investor group consisting of New China Trust, China Aviation Industrial Fund and P3 Investments, which is led by Weng Xianding, Chairman of New China Trust, which agreed to buy 80.1% of the common stock of ILFC for approximately $4.23 billion in cash, with the option to purchase an additional 9.9% of the common stock of ILFC for $522.5 million.
On May 31, a SEC filing stated that Jumbo Acquisition had failed to pay the agreed scheduled deposit as per the purchase agreement form December 9, 2012 of “the RMB equivalent of $422.75 million (the Transaction Deposit) into an escrow account upon the later of ten days after approval of the Transaction and the Option by CFIUS, and March 15, 2013. If the consortium took the option to buy the additional stock it was further required to “deposit an additional RMB equivalent of $52.25 million” with the Transaction Deposit.
The delay of that payment has led to countless speculation in the press and by industry analysts that the sale of ILFC was in jeopardy. Although AIG nor ILFC are not commenting on the record on this delay, it is seems more certain now that the sale will go ahead as planned although it will be pushing back by one month, with closing now expected in mid-June.
ILFC sale delayed
