Another bow has been added to the arrow of Ireland's booming aviation finance sector with the launch of two funds by Dublin based players. At the end of June, RBS Aviation Capital, The Royal Bank of Scotland's dedicated aerospace capital division, launched its RBS AirSpeed bond, while in mid-June, Amentum Capital, the Dublin based aviation financing arm of German bank HSH Nordbank, launched its first aviation fund.
The Air-Speed bond was priced and closed on June 27th, and is listed on the Irish Stock Exchange. The $1.091 billion deal represents the Dublin office of RBS Aviation Capital's first capital markets placement.
Amentum, which was set up in Dublin in November 2005, has just been appointed as investment advisor and asset manager for a new HSH Nordbank fund, Global Aviation Fund 1. As such, Amentum will be charged with finding 25-30 aircraft for this $1.3 billion fund. The Air-Speed bond, which consisted of the purchase of 36 aircraft from RBS Aerospace Limited, was priced and closed on June 27th, and is listed on the Irish Stock Exchange. The $1.091 billion deal represents the Dublin office of RBS Aviation Capital's first capital markets placement.
'The fund has a unique product structure on the market: it invests in a newly-to-be-established young aircraft portfolio consisting of between 25 and 30 different types of globally deployable commercial aircraft, such as the A320 and the B737 NG, which are to be acquired through operating leases.
By spreading the funds over different types of aircraft and by signing leasing agreements with different airlines and terms, the safety of the investment is increased significantly,' Christian Hatje, CEO of the firm, told FINANCE.
The fund marks HSH Nordbank's first foray into aviation asset management, but Hatje expects it won't be the last, with other more specialist funds likely to follow the first one. |
