HNA enters 2nd round in asset bid
Print Edition
CHINA’S HNA Group and a firm backed by tycoon Li Ka-shing are among suitors advancing to a second round of bidding for CIT Group’s aircraft leasing assets valued from US$3 billion to US$4 billion, people familiar with the situation said.
CIT’s commercial air unit is one of the world’s top-10 lessors with 331 aircraft — an attractive target particularly for Chinese firms whose enthusiasm for the US$228 billion global aircraft leasing market has climbed in tandem with rapid growth in Chinese air travel.
The people said HNA is the leading contender for the US lender’s assets. Bohai Capital, HNA’s leasing arm, has said it is planning to add 300 to 400 planes to the 500-plus it has on order and in service.
Others going to the next round include Ping An Insurance, which has an aircraft leasing arm, and Century Tokyo Leasing, which has joint ventures with CIT, the people said.
Li’s Accipiter Holdings is a Dublin-based unit of his flagship company CK Hutchison Holdings and has partnered with US-based Apollo Aviation Group for its bid.
CK Hutchison, a ports-to-telecoms conglomerate, entered the aircraft leasing business in 2014 to diversify its earnings.
“This fits well with their ambition to build a sizeable global leasing business,” said one person with knowledge of the group’s strategy.
A spokesman for CIT noted in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission last week that the company was still pursuing a dual track process which would either involve spinning off the business or an outright sale.
CIT, which has over 100 customers such as Delta Air Lines, started the sale process earlier this year inviting bids from more than a dozen entities, sources have said.
The second round of bids is due in August, the people said, adding that a meeting with shortlisted suitors would be held in New York in the coming weeks.
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