Story ID: 
Milestone Selling 12 Helicopters to Macquarie
By: Mark Huber
Caption: A 12-helicopter sales deal between lessors Milestone Aviation and Macquarie Rotorcraft is a sign of "strong liquidity," the companies say.
Word Count: 233
Helicopter lessor Milestone Aviation is selling 12 aircraft to Macquarie Rotorcraft. The deal includes a mix of Sikorsky S-92, Airbus H135, Bell 412, and Leonardo AW109, AW139, and AW189 helicopters. The aircraft are currently on lease to six customers in nine countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia and deployed on missions including offshore energy, EMS, and police services. 
“Acquiring these assets expands our ability to meet the growing needs of our customers and demonstrates the increasing sophistication of the helicopter finance market,” said John Petkovic, Macquarie's CEO. Macquarie provides specialized helicopter leasing, financing, and business solutions to 30 customers in 32 countries from offices in Dallas; Limerick, Ireland; London; Singapore; and Cape Town, South Africa.
“The ability to trade on lease assets is a critical part of portfolio management for lessors of scale and we are pleased to partner with such a strong industry player as Macquarie Rotorcraft, and to work together to execute what is a sizeable portfolio transaction,” said Milestone CEO Pat Sheedy. “This transaction between the two leading owners of leased rotorcraft is another example of the growing maturity of the helicopter leasing sector and reinforces the strong liquidity that we are seeing.”
AerCap unit Milestone supports over 50 customers in more than 40 countries serving a variety of industries.