Azorra Aviation has entered into an agreement with funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, under which Oaktree and Azorra’s founders will invest $350 million to expand Azorra’s commercial aircraft leasing business.
Azorra intends to use the proceeds from the investment to “accelerate its growth and solidify its position as the leading lessor in its segment, with a core focus on regional, small narrowbody and new technology crossover aircraft”.
“We are thrilled to align with Oaktree as we shape Azorra’s platform to meet the unique needs of airlines during an extraordinary time in commercial aviation,” said John Evans, Azorra’s CEO. “Together with Oaktree, we are positioned to bring innovative fleet rationalization, transition and financing solutions on existing fleets and new aircraft for airline customers and OEMs.”
“Azorra is a proven leader in commercial aircraft leasing with the platform, expertise and capabilities needed to deliver comprehensive fleet solutions for airlines and OEMs,” said David Brown, Managing Director at Oaktree. “We believe Azorra is uniquely positioned to expand its market share, and we look forward to supporting its next phase of growth.”
UBS Investment Bank acted as exclusive placement agent for Azorra.
Since its inception, Azorra has completed transactions on 37 aircraft. The company currently owns and manages 11 aircraft.
Most recently, Azorra has entered into long-term lease agreements covering six Embraer E170s to be operated by American Airlines’ wholly owned Envoy subsidiary.
Azorra will purchase the aircraft from BA CityFlyer (a wholly owned regional subsidiary of British Airways) after they transition through maintenance and modification at the Embraer Aircraft Maintenance Services facility in Macon, GA. The passenger cabins will be reconfigured to 65 seats including refurbishments and rebranding to operate for Envoy.
“We are thrilled to have this opportunity to engineer such a unique transition of aircraft between two of the world’s most distinguished global air carriers, facilitating a repositioning of these aircraft to replace less efficient smaller jets within American’s regional networks. This is yet another example of how Azorra continues to bring innovative fleet rationalization, transition and financing solutions for our customers,” said Evans.
This transaction follows a recent trade where Azorra aggregated fourteen Embraer E190s formerly with Copa Airlines (Panama), transitioning them to Alliance Airlines (Australia) a newly established operator of the type.