A tie-up between leasing giants AerCap and General Electric unit GECAS would reshape global air finance and carve out a new chapter in one of Ireland's greatest corporate adventures. AerCap shares soared on Monday after news the company is close to acquiring GECAS to unite the leasing industry's two largest aircraft portfolios. "It creates a leasing colossus with 2,000 aircraft under one brand," said independent industry adviser Bertrand Grabowski.
Air leasing mega-merger would rebuild ruined Irish empire yahoo.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from yahoo.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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PARIS (Reuters) - A tie-up between leasing giants AerCap and General Electric unit GECAS would reshape global air finance and reunite entities torn apart in one of Ireland’s most spectacular corporate collapses three decades ago.
FILE PHOTO: Aengus Kelly, CEO of AerCap, speaks during a panel discussion at the 2015 International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit in Miami Beach, Florida, June 8, 2015. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo
Dublin-based AerCap has confirmed talks with GECAS to combine the leasing industry’s two largest aircraft portfolios in Ireland’s biggest ever corporate acquisition.
It would also mark the latest move by GE boss Larry Culp to offload businesses and reduce debt, after taking over the reins at the struggling conglomerate in 2018.
However, if a deal goes ahead, its sheer size could attract attention from antitrust regulators as AerCap and Gecas are already each roughly twice as big in fleet terms as Avolon.
The structure of any deal to acquire Gecas was not immediately clear but several industry sources predicted it would include a similar stock structure that saw lessor ILFC’s insurance owner AIG become a shareholder in the new AerCap.
Vertical Research Partners analyst Rob Stallard described the venture that will result if AerCap and Gecas ink a deal as the “mother of all leasing companies”.
Analysis: Leasing deal push evokes past glories to shape aviation s future reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.