Regional aircraft lessor TrueNoord recently closed a term loan financing facility with Nord/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank (Nord/LB) for five Embraer E190 aircraft it bought from BOC Aviation with leases attached earlier this year.
The five E190s operated regionally by KLM Cityhopper represent a significant investment for TrueNoord, it says, and heralds the start of this year’s “highly targeted programme for their fleet under lease.” It anticipates that by the end of this month its portfolio will stand at 22 aircraft. Pillsbury acted as legal advisers for TrueNoord throughout the transaction.
All five aircraft from the BOC Aviation purchase are operated in support of KLM’s European network, and TrueNoord says this is set to accelerate its acquisitions in the regional aviation sector.
Anne-Bart Tieleman, CEO, said that working with financiers like Nord/LB on the acquisition of young aircraft with long remaining leases operated by triple ‘A’ carriers such as KLM was “an important part of our strategy moving forward. We are currently concluding a number of transactions for predominantly young to new assets that will be utilised by regional carriers worldwide.”
Expressing confidence in the regional aircraft leasing sector, he added ahead of next week’s ISTAT Americas conference in San Diego that “we see a regional sector in The Americas that has abundant opportunities. We already have some Embraer E190s flying with AeroMexico as part of our globally diversified fleet of regional aircraft and we will be expanding the penetration of our assets further throughout the region as we move through 2018.”
In the past year TrueNoord’s business model has been recognised by leading investors with both BlackRock and Aberdeen Asset Management coming on board together with the cornerstone investor, Bregal Freshstream.
Graham Lees, head of sales at BOC Aviation, commented that this was the second major transaction for Embraer E190s that it had successfully concluded with TrueNoord in the past 12 months for airlines in Europe, Asia and South America. “Their professional handling of aircraft transactions with leases attached ensures smooth operational continuity for airlines in competitive regional markets,” he said.
