Aircraft leasing firm NAC confirms $60m equity deal
LIMERICK-BASED aircraft lessor Nordic Aviation Capital has confirmed that it is raising $60m (€53m) from its four shareholders and seeking agreement from lenders for an interest payment pause on its $6bn debt pile.
As revealed in the Irish Independent, the company – the world’s largest lessor of regional aircraft – was yesterday petitioning the High Court in Dublin with a proposed scheme of arrangement. It would endeavour to raise equity from its owners.
Søren M Overgaard, chief executive of Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC), said no aircraft lessor is immune from the crisis that has hammered the travel industry.
“The anticipation of a prolonged recovery from Covid19 drove the requirement to undertake this complex engagement process with our lenders,” he said.
“We remain committed to emerging stronger and more robust in the aftermath of the pandemic,” he added. “While the extent and the full impact of Covid-19 is as yet unknown, we remain confident that the regional sector will recover first and [confident in] our ability to navigate through this challenging period.”
NAC’s four owners include KIRKBI, the private investment office of the Kristiansen family that owns the Lego empire. Nordic Aviation Capital was founded in Denmark.
The largest shareholder in NAC is Sweden’s EQT, a global private equity giant. The other shareholders are Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, and NAC’s founder, Martin Møller.
There are about 80 lenders to NAC, whose chief commercial officer is Jim Murphy, and discussions with the largest lenders have been “constructive”, said the lessor.
The scheme of arrangement proposes a standstill on interest payments for six months, and on principal for nine months.
It requires court approval and the agreement of lenders voting in classes representing 75pc by value and more than 50pc by number.
NAC said it entered the current global crisis in a strong liquidity position, having recently posted its strongest first-half financial performance to date.
It has delivered 23 years of consistent profitability and growth, it noted. It owned 500 aircraft as of the start of the year and had shareholders’ equity of $1.8bn at the end of its last financial year, in June 2019.
NAC has 78 customers around the world, and a mix of turboprop and jet aircraft such as ATR-72s, Embraer 190 and 195s and CRJs. Its clients include British Airways, Air Canada and Lufthansa.