Lessor DAE in Pole Position to buy Macquarie AirFinance

UPDATE February 26: DAE announced on February 26 that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Macquarie AirFinance for $7.0 billion through a combination of debt and equity. The combined companies will have a pro forma fleet of 1.029 aircraft. Following the proposed acquisition of Air Lease Corporation by a consortium of four, more consolidation is on its way in the leasing business. Next is Macquarie AirFinance, which, according to sources known to Reuters, is about to be acquired by Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE). If successful, this would grow DAE’s owned, managed, and committed fleet to over 1.000 aircraft, solidifying its third place in the lessor ranking. Last year, stories emerged that Macquarie Group had launched a process to divest Macquarie AirFinance. Macquarie owns 50 percent of the leasing company, which was established in 2006. PGGM Infrastructure Fund and Australian Retirement Trust each hold 25 percent. The lessor reported a $44.5 million net loss for 2025 after a drop in the value of its investments. In a sale process led by JP Morgan, initially six prospective buyers emerged, but some withdrew their bids. Saudi Arabia’s AviLease and Qatar’s Lesha Bank are still vying for Macquarie, but sources told Reuters that DAE is in pole position for the Irish lessor. Attractive Macquarie AirFinance is an attractive proposition to any buyer, thanks to its portfolio of new-technology aircraft. According to its own website, it owns or has commitments to 191 Airbus aircraft. Airbus data confirms that Macquarie had orders for 22 A220-300s, of which two have been delivered. For the A320neo, the numbers are 20 and 11, respectively. Airbus also lists one A319ceo, 36 A320ceos, and seven A321ceos. Whereas the lessor says that five A330ceos and six A350s are also part of the portfolio, this isn’t confirmed by Airbus data. Macquarie’s Boeing portfolio includes 57 737NGs, six 777-300ERs, and two MAX, with another 70 on order. Boeing’s unfilled orders show 68 MAX, including 30 ordered in July last year. The lessor also owns two Embraer E190s but has no unfilled orders. Of its fleet, 76 aircraft have been placed with airlines in Asia, 65 in Europe, 21 in the Middle East, 18 in South America, 18 in North America and 25 in other regions, according to a survey from AvBench that used data from CH-Aviation. Take AirInsight on a Test Flight 7 days full access — premium analysis and the complete data model library — for $1. No commitment. Start My Test Flight ? DAE DAE ended 2025 with a $702.2 million net profit, up from $477.5 million in 2024. Its fleet is valued at $25 billion. According to AvBench, the Dubai-based company grew its fleet last year by 226 aircraft to 646, including passenger and freighter aircraft. DAE’s Foriz Tarapore said the owned-and-managed fleet stood at 604 aircraft by late December. Part of this growth has come through sale-and-leasebacks, such as 10 Boeing 737 MAX 9s from United Airlines in a deal agreed last July. In March last year, DAE acquired 17 aircraft from various counterparties. A major boost came with the completion in May of the $2.0 billion acquisition of Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) and its portfolio of some 250 regional aircraft, mainly ATRs. Remember that DAE also purchased the entire Boeing MAX portfolio from CALC in August 2023. Boeing’s unfilled DAE orders show 48 MAX, but there are no aircraft in the Airbus backlog. Asia and Europe are DAE’s largest markets, with 173 and 121 aircraft placed with customers, respectively. South America trails North America by 71 aircraft, while Africa has 54. Another 124 aircraft are active in other markets. Airbus A320-family aircraft take up 36 percent of the portfolio, ahead of 28 percent for the Boeing 737-family. ATR turboprops represent 13 percent. Attractive new widebodies like the A350 and 787 are underrepresented in DAE’s portfolio, accounting for 3% and 7%, respectively. DAE increased total debt from $8.0 to $10.2 billion last year, with an equity-to-net-debt ratio of 2.58x. It raised $3.9 billion in long-term debt and ended the year with $3.4 billion in liquidity. Adding Macquarie’s 231 owned-and-managed aircraft to its 646 will thrust DAE’s portfolio to 877 aircraft, with 145 unfilled orders not included. This nicely places it in third position behind AerCap (1.826) and the combined force of SMBC/Sumitomo and ALC (1.349), whose transaction is expected to close in the first half of this year. DAE itself will be well clear of Avolon, which had 632 owned and managed aircraft by December, but with 500 aircraft on order. In a separate deal, Avolon completed the sale of 24 aircraft last week to Aviation Capital Group (ACG).

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