AerCap Holdings NV, a global leader in aircraft leasing, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of the GE Capital Aviation Services business.
Earlier in March, news arose that the 2 major companies were to negotiate their union, and by July, the deal had received approval from the European Union’s regulatory authority to proceed.
The acquisition positions AerCap as a global industry leader in all areas of aircraft leasing: airplanes, engines, and helicopters. The combined company will serve some 300 lessors worldwide and will be the largest customer of Airbus and Boeing.
AerCap currently has more than 2,000 aircraft, more than 900 engines, and more than 300 helicopters, as well as an order backlog of approximately 450 of today’s most cost-effective and technologically advanced generations of aircraft. The fleet accounts for approximately 90% of the combined company’s assets. New technology aircraft are expected to represent 75% of the fleet by 2024.
“The completion of this acquisition represents a significant milestone for AerCap that will generate benefits for our customers, partners, employees, and investors for many years to come,” said Aengus Kelly, AerCap’s Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer. “In GECAS, AerCap acquired the right business, at the right price, at the right time, as flying continues to rebound from the pandemic and demand for aircraft leasing continues to rapidly accelerate.”
” Several years of dedication and commitment by the AerCap and GECAS teams have resulted in an expanded portfolio consisting of the most in-demand aviation assets in the industry. Our scale and resources allow us to offer comprehensive, innovative and customized solutions”. he added.
H. Lawrence Culp, Jr, Chairman, and CEO of GE, says, “The combination of GECAS and AerCap will bring significant value to both companies and their shareholders. This strategic deal marks significant progress in GE’s transformation into a more focused, simpler, and stronger high-tech industrial company, and I also would like to thank AerCap and the exceptional team at GECAS for their support in creating the combined company that will better serve customers around the world”.
According to the terms of the transaction agreement, General Electric received 111.5 million newly issued AerCap shares, which equates to approximately $23 billion in cash and $1 billion in AerCap promissory notes. General Electric currently owns approximately 46% of AerCap’s outstanding shares.
Leaders in Brazil:
Over there, the companies’ leadership situation is quite prevalent.
According to data disclosed by our partner media Aeroin in March of this year, based on the closing of 2019, at Azul Linhas Aéreas they owned 29% of the fleet, being the two largest lessors of the airline founded by David Neeleman.
To LATAM Brazil, AerCap was the second-largest lessor of aircraft, with 22% of the fleet, behind only U.S. bank Wells Fargo, which owns 24% of LATAM’s aircraft in the country. GECAS has less than 4% of the company’s fleet.
As far as GOL is concerned, GECAS had the largest share among lessors, with 15%, while AerCap had 5%.
In total, according to these data, there were at least 79 Brazilian commercial units owned by GECAS and AerCap at the time, which was 18% of the country’s commercial fleet before the pandemic.
