ALAFCO Looks To Sell 73 Aircraft To Macquarie

Kuwaiti lessor ALAFCO is seeking shareholder approval to sell 53 aircraft, plus 20 Boeing 737 MAX 8s on order, to Dublin-registered global aircraft lessor Macquarie Airfinance Group for $2.2 billion. 

In a Dec. 5 Kuwait stock exchange disclosure, ALAFCO detailed its substantial asset disposal plans, which will be discussed during a general meeting on Dec. 27.

According to ALAFCO’s website, the lessor has a fleet of 19 Airbus A320ceos, 33 A320neos, two A321ceos, six A350-900s, 12 737-800s and five 777-300ERs, totaling 77 aircraft. 

ALAFCO’s order book comprises 38 A320neos, 10 A321neos and 20 737 MAX 8s, which were committed to in October 2012.

This means the asset sale will seriously deplete ALAFCO’s fleet, but the deal is an aircraft-asset sale, rather than an acquisition of ALAFCO itself.

ALAFCO was established in 1992, as the aircraft-leasing arm of Kuwait Airways. The company was acquired by Kuwait Finance House (KFH) in 1999 and listed on the Kuwait stock exchange in 2006.

The proposed ALAFCO-Macquarie aircraft disposal follows a spate of structural movement in the aircraft leasing sector.

In November, Irish lessor Aergo Capital announced its acquisition of Dublin-headquartered Seraph Aviation Management, growing its portfolio to 304 aircraft assets, valued at approximately $6.8 billion. 

Meanwhile, Irish lessor SMBC Aviation Capital is on the brink of closing its $6.5 billion acquisition of Dublin-based Goshawk Aviation and Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) recently acquired 36 aircraft by buying holding company Sky Fund I Irish and its subsidiaries. 

Other changes included investment firm SVPGlobal acquiring the remaining 50% of Deucalion Aviation, a 180-aircraft company which was created from the sale of DVB Bank’s leasing arm, and earlier in 2022, Canadian regional aviation specialist Chorus Aviation acquired UK-headquartered lessor Falko Regional Aircraft.

New players are also emerging on the leasing scene, including turboprop lessor Abelo, which was created from the June 2022 merger of Elix Aviation and ADARE Aviation Capital, and new state-owned Saudi Arabian lessor AviLease.