AERCAP, a Dutch company which employs 50 people in Shannon, is about to complete the acquisition of International Lease Finance Corporation and plans to re-domicile billions of euro worth of assets to Ireland.
The company, when contacted on Wednesday, wasn’t in a position to say how the move would impact on its Shannon operations.
When the separation of Shannon from the Dublin Airport Authority was announced last December, it was predicted that 3,000 to 5,000 jobs would be created within five years in aviation related industries.
On Tuesday, Patrick Edmond, director of Group Strategy for Shannon and managing director of the Shannon International Aviation Services Centre, tweeted a link to a news story on the plans to re-domicile the ILFC fleet to Ireland, which is understood to include 1,000 planes.
He also tweeted a correction regarding another news story, which stated that Aercap is Dublin-based rather than Shannon-based.
Ratings agency, Fitch released a statement about the takeover on Monday, which illustrated its eye-watering scale.
“AerCap has agreed to acquire 100% of ILFC from American International Group in a cash and stock transaction. The purchase price is approximately $5.4 billion, including $3 billion in debt and cash and approximately $2.4 billion in newly issued AER shares,” it said.
It also stated that after the acquisition Aercap, will have approximately 1,200 aircraft in its fleet compared to 231 in September of this year. It will also have the largest order book in the industry.
Regarding moving the assets to Ireland, the Fitch statement said; “AerCap expects to reap significant tax benefits by re-domiciling all of the assets to Ireland and leaving the significant DTL (deferred and current tax liability) with AIG.”
In another statement this week, AerCap said that the following the deal it will become a “new industry leader in aircraft leasing with total assets of $41 billion, fleet of over 1,300 aircraft and highly attractive order book of 385 aircraft”.
It also outlined what will come in the next few months. “The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014. The cash portion of the consideration is expected to be funded through a combination of new debt financing and cash of the combined company.
“The combined company will retain the name AerCap, and ILFC will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of AerCap.”
AerCap’s Irish CEO, Aengus Kelly said; “AerCap’s acquisition of ILFC will create the leading global franchise in the aircraft leasing industry. This transaction presents a unique strategic opportunity to bring together the outstanding and experienced personnel from both companies and two attractive portfolios of modern aircraft on lease to a highly diversified customer base. Further, we believe AerCap will now have the most attractive order book in the industry. With these combined resources, along with a strong liquidity profile, we will drive high levels of stable long term profitability and cash flows for the benefit of all our stakeholders.”
AerCap is one of the world’s leading aircraft leasing companies. It has a portfolio of 373 aircraft owned, managed and under purchase commitments, which represents one of the youngest fleets in the industry. It is listed on the New York Stock exchange and as well as Shannon it has bases in the Netherlands, the US, China, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
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Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.