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ICBC
Leasing, the leasing and asset finance arm of the world’s
largest bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and
VistaJet have signed a $210m finance deal for Bombardier
Global 6000 aircraft.
The deal is the first from a Chinese financial institution in the
international business aviation sector.
ICBC Leasing is expanding its footprint globally and placed an order
for 10 Legacy 650 aircraft earlier this year. The company emphasises
cooperation with top aircraft operators not only in the commercial
aviation sector but also in business aviation. In 2011, ICBC Leasing
entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Bombardier to
provide funding support to the buyers of Bombardier aircraft and rail
products. ICBC Leasing funds the deal with a facility line from Export
Development Canada.
The deal will see VistaJet fast-track the expansion of its fleet
following greater than expected demand, especially from certain
BRINC countries and other fast-growth markets. Expansion will be
through potential new orders as well as through expediting the
delivery of Bombardier aircraft from its current $2bn order backlog.
“We
are delighted to have partnered with ICBC Leasing as we look
to fast-track the expansion of our fleet," said
VistaJet Founder and Chairman, Thomas
Flohr.
“We recently announced historic agreements with partners
in China and Russia that will see VistaJet significantly
increase its presence in these countries. In just a few
months since the announcements, we have seen extraordinary
levels of demand and we’ve concluded that, along with the
growth we are seeing in other markets, we must bring forward
our plans for fleet expansion.”
Mr.
Cong Lin,
CEO of ICBC Leasing commented: “We are committed to
develop our Corporate Jet business globally with our
partners, such as VistaJet, Bombardier and EDC. This deal
marks milestone in the history of the Chinese leasing
industry.”
He
added that “Vistajet is an exceptional partner of ICBC
Leasing. ICBC bank has a strong private banking sector and
we are exploring more business opportunities with Vistajet”
see
also:
VistaJet
to fast-track growth of fleet (BlueSky
12th July 2012).
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