SKY Aviation Leasing International (SKY Leasing), a full‐service aircraft leasing company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, has closed a $750 million warehouse debt financing facility. Approximately half of the facility is expected to be drawn to finance aircraft currently owned or under firm commitment to be acquired by SKY Leasing. These aircraft have a weighted average age of less than two years and a weighted average remaining lease term greater than nine years. The remaining commitment is available to finance additional aircraft acquisitions.
The facility was oversubscribed and its syndicate included seven banks with extensive experience in aviation finance.
“The successful completion of this Facility will support our aircraft acquisition program through the end of 2017. It will also increase our ability to fund airline sale and leaseback transactions and large portfolio acquisitions efficiently,” said Rich Wiley, CEO of SKY Leasing affiliate SKY Aviation Leasing US. “We are delighted to work with such a strong syndicate of leading aviation lenders, which is an important validation of our platform and business model.”
Deutsche Bank acted as sole structuring agent, joint syndication agent and joint lead arranger. Bank of America Merrill Lynch acted as joint syndication agent and joint lead arranger. Crédit Agricole acted as joint lead arranger.