LEVL Leasing (LEVL), the Dublin-based joint venture leasing company formed in June 2022 by helicopter lessor Lobo Leasing and financier EMP Structured Assets, has secured financing for 26 aircraft.
Investec Bank has financed 15 helicopters and five specialist fixed wing aircraft for LEVL, while Airbus Bank has provided financing for six Airbus H145 helicopters.
Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) advised Investec and Airbus Bank on the financing.
The aircraft will be used for sustainability-linked aviation projects, emergency medical response, search and rescue, and firefighting, and are operating in multiple jurisdictions throughout Europe and Africa.
The multi-jurisdictional WFW team that advised Investec was led by global aviation sector co-head Jim Bell, working closely with London assets and structured finance counsel Jane Keith, senior associates Natasha Collins and Nicholas Yu, associates James Wickham and Varun Kapur and Trainee Kiera Jenkinson. New York partner Susanne Burstein and associate Julia Sim and Paris partner Philippe Monfort and associate Lisa Tavlaridis advised on US and French law aspects of the transaction respectively.
Bell also led the team advising Airbus Bank, supported by counsel Jane Keith, senior associate Abi Carter and associate James Wickham.
Bell commented: “We are pleased to have advised our long-standing and valued clients Investec and Airbus Bank on these transactions and delighted to have supported Lobo and EMP in LEVL’s rapid growth”.
On its launch last year, LEVL had secured a €75million equity commitment from a fund in Switzerland, which was invested in EMS, firefighting, SAR, and other ESG-compliant transactions, and had closed its first transaction the acquisition and lease of two H145 helicopters to Everett Aviation.