François Chazelle, a familiar face at MEBA and trade shows worldwide through his years at Airbus Corporate Jets, is here at MEBA 2014 representing a new company, Dublin-based Aviation Finance Company, Ltd. (AFC). “It offers a new concept to finance aircraft, either commercial or business jets,” said Chazelle, now AFC senior vice president.
Christopher Condy, AFC managing partner, explained that while structures such as enhanced equipment trust certificates are commonly used to finance aircraft, such tools “usually were public and had to be large, and have a large number of investors. We take that structure and give a bigger piece to a select few investors [but using a smaller total investment],” he said.
AFC completed its first transaction in June 2013 and has provided more than $2 billion in financing since then, according to the company, which recently acquired Volito Aviation Services of Sweden (and its Irish subsidiary). In October the company announced forming a joint venture with Ittihad International Investment LLC of Abu Dhabi, Ittihad/AFC Aviation Consultancy LLC, to provide its finance and leasing solutions to the ME market.
Here at MEBA 2014, Chazelle and Condy are meeting with potential clients and seeking investment opportunities.