AerCap-ILFC Deal Heralds Return to Stability
ILFC’s order book includes 74 Boeing 787s (top). Its portfolio also features several Boeing 777s (middle) and 737s (bottom). (Image: Boeing)
ILFC’s order book includes 74 Boeing 787s (top). Its portfolio also features several Boeing 777s (middle) and 737s (bottom). (Image: Boeing)

Amsterdam-based AerCap’s planned acquisition of International Lease Finance Corp. from American International Group stands to return a sense of stability to a business in which the disposition of one of two dominant players hung in doubt for more than a year. It also promises to result in what AerCap CEO Aengus Kelly characterized as “the most attractive order book in the industry,” valued at $25 billion. The future deliveries, combined with the fact that 85 percent of the value of the existing fleet would consist of Airbus A320s, Airbus A330s, Boeing 737NGs and Boeing 777s, represents “substantial future embedded growth with attractive aircraft types and favorable pricing and delivery dates,” according to AerCap. All told, the merged company would carry total assets of $41 billion, a fleet of more than 1,300 airplanes and an order book consisting of another 385.