The bidding battle for Avolon has ended with Bohai Leasing, a unit of the Chinese aviation and shipping company HNA, snapping up the Dublin-based aircraft leasing company in a deal valuing its equity at just over $2.5bn.
It beat out AVIC Capital, a subsidiary of state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China, which began talks with US-listed Avolon a year ago. Aircraft leasing is attracting growing attention and dollars in Asia, with Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp and Hong Kong-based billionaire Li Ka-shing among recent investors.
Bohai secured its prize early on Friday with an offer of $31 a share, $1 a share below its previous offer and a 31 per cent premium to the undisturbed share price on July 13. Including debt, the price equates to an enterprise value of $7.6bn.