Nordic Aviation Capital lender vote on debt standstill is postponed
LIMERICK-BASED Nordic Aviation Capital – the world’s biggest lessor of regional aircraft – has adjourned a vote on a debt interest payment standstill for two weeks.
The vote was due to take place yesterday and it’s now planned to hold it on July 9.
At a High Court hearing earlier this month when the proposed scheme of arrangement was presented, the court heard that a group that holds 69pc of Nordic Aviation Capital’s unsecured debt was opposing the plan.
Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) insisted yesterday that it has had “constructive discussions” with its lenders “and wishes to continue to engage with them to come to a mutually beneficial agreement”.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on businesses across the world, in every sector, but particularly for the travel industry,” said NAC chief executive Søren M Overgaard yesterday.
“Constructive discussions have been taking place since early April and we have made a lot of progress. We hope this adjournment will allow us to finalise an agreement that is workable for all,” he said.
Earlier this month, Nordic Aviation Capital presented a scheme of arrangement to the High Court that would see it secure a standstill on tens of millions of dollars in interest payments due over the next six months on $6bn (€5.3bn) of debt.
As part of the process, NAC also secured an agreement for a $60m (€53m) equity injection from its four owners, which 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.
The High Court also heard earlier this month that 65 of NAC’s 75 airline customers have sought various concessions in relation to their aircraft leasing arrangements.
In April, NAC collected just 20pc of what it was due from airlines that have leased its aircraft.
The proposed scheme of arrangement won’t affect NAC’s current indebtedness, and the company will continue to operate as usual. It employs about 100 people at its Limerick offices.
There are about 80 lenders to NAC, whose chief commercial officer is Jim Murphy.
NAC has a fleet of 500 aircraft. Its customers include airlines such as Lufthansa and Air Canada.