Investec Closes $1 Billion A380 Aircraft-Lease Deal with Emirates

DUBAI – Investec Bank, a lender in the aviation market, has closed a $1 billion operating lease transaction with Emirates Airline, it said on Monday.

The deal will pay for the delivery and sale and leaseback of four A380-800s, the world’s largest passenger jet, Investec said in a statement.

Investec Aviation Finance has around $5 billion of aircraft assets under management through its own balance sheet and managed funds, it said.

It said the transaction included aircraft dating from 2013 and 2016. Investec, a specialist bank and asset manager, acquired the 2013 aircraft from Stellwagen Finance, the holding company for Aviation Finance Company (AFC), while the 2016 aircraft were delivered from Airbus, it said.

Investec, which operates mainly in South Africa and the United Kingdom, acted as the sole arranger for both the financing and leasing elements of the deal.

Financing was provided by banks and institutional investors across the Middle East, Europe and Asia, Investec said without elaborating. Islamic financing was involved in two of the deliveries, it said.

(Reporting by Tom Arnold; editing by Susan Thomas)