International law firm Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings (“CALC”), Natixis and Crédit Industriel & Commercial (“CIC”) and BOT Lease on nine Japanese operating leases with call option (JOLCO) arranged by Asset Brok’Air in April 2017.
The Paris office of WFW assisted:
- CALC in connection with one Airbus A320 aircraft, MSN 7624, operated by Thai Air Asia. Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (“CA-CIB”) acted as overall arranger and co-ordinator of the transaction.
- Natixis as lender in connection with the financing of one Boeing 787-9, MSN 42495, for Air France.
- CIC and BOT Lease as debt arrangers and lenders for Scandinavian Airlines System (“SAS”) in connection with the refinancing of seven Boeing 737-700/800 aircraft. The fleet comprises four 737-700s, MSNs 29095, 29096, 29097, 29098, and three 737-800s, MSNs 28325, 28326, 28327. All were initially delivered new to SAS between 2001 and 2002.
The WFW Paris team involved in these three transactions was led by Finance partner Charles Viggers, supported by Marc-Alexandre Tremblay, Lucy Todd, Edward Moore and Laura Caines advising CALC; by Ruth van Lare, Borislava Koleva and Manon Anglade advising Natixis; and by Lucy Todd, Seif Borin and Edward Moore advising CIC and BOT Lease.
Charles commented: “To have advised on nine successful JOLCOs all closing within a few days of each other at the end of April is a fantastic achievement for the team and one that demonstrates the strength and depth of expertise that makes WFW one of the ‘go-to’ law firms for aviation finance both in France and globally. We’re very pleased to be associated with the commercial parties’ successful closing of these deals.”
The WFW Paris team also advised CALC last year on the financing and leasing of two Airbus A320-214 aircraft leased to Pegasus Airlines by means of a JOLCO, which was named “Aircraft Lessor JOLCO Deal of the Year Award” at the Global Transport Finance 2016 Awards.
