The Race in Aerospace – Positions of Private Equity Firms
~$40bn Apollo acquisition – GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), GE’s aircraft leasing operations
Bidder: Apollo, an offer as much as $40 billion according to Bloomberg & Reuters
GECAS has a fleet of more than 1,900 planes, which it provides to airlines under long-term leases.
1/4/2019
~$1bn KKR investment – Altavair, focusing on the acquisition of new and used commercial aircraft for leasing to passenger airlines and cargo operators
Investor: KKR, $1 billion capital commitment to acquire commercial aircraft in partnership with Altavair + a 50% interest in Altavair; Altavair will be KKR’s partner for aircraft leasing investments going forward
Since its inception in 2003, Altavair has completed over $8 billion in commercial aircraft lease transactions with over 40 airline customers in 27 countries representing over 200 individual Boeing and Airbus aircraft
~$5bn Carlyle acquisition – StandardAero, largest independent maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) providers
Bidder: Carlyle, for more than $5 billion (Reuters) from Veritas
Veritas acquired StandardAero from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Ltd (DAE) for $2.1 billion, including debt, in 2015
Carlyle first acquired StandardAero in 2004. In 2007, DAE simultaneously purchased StandardAero and Landmark Aviation, also an aircraft maintenance services company, from Carlyle in a transaction valued at $1.8 billion, including debt.
~$15bn Apollo acquisition – Arconic (ARNC), aluminum products used around the world by aerospace manufacturers
Bidder 1: Blackstone, Carlyle, Onex and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
(winning) Bidder 2: Apollo, seems winning with a potential acquisition price of $22; also considered is a spin-off of its cladding operation with potential liability from the Grenfell Tower fire of two years ago.
