Aerfi staff set for huge payout after $750m sale

AERFI, the aircraft financing group that emerged from the collapse and subsequent rescue of GPA, is being bought by the German group Debis AirFinance for $750 million (€852 million).

The deal will mean huge windfalls for Aerfi staff, former GPA chairman Tony Ryan and his family, GE Capital - the US group that rescued GPA from collapse seven years ago after GPA's stock market flotation in Dublin, London and New York foundered - and Mr David Bonderman's Texas Pacific, which owns about half the firm.

Dr Ryan and his family interests are understood to own about 6 per cent of Aerfi and stand to gain almost $48 million while the former GPA chief executive, Mr Maurice Foley, and former Allied Irish Banks chief executive, Mr Gerry Scanlan, will also make millions from the deal. Mr Foley has shares worth $4.3 million while Mr Scanlan's shares are worth $3.6 million.

The biggest individual beneficiary is Aerfi chief executive Mr Patrick Blaney, whose 5.25 million Aerfi shares are worth $20.5 million. Aerfi chairman Lord Stevenson will receive $7.4 million while Aerfi's 50-plus management and staff - who hold around 7 per cent of the company - stand to share more than $50 million.

The two biggest shareholders are Mr Bonderman's Texas Pacific group, which owns about 50 per cent of Aerfi, and GE Capital - which acquired a 23 per cent stake by exercising options over 35.3 million shares last February.

GE has made a killing on its investment as the options it exercised were at 60 cents a share compared to the $3.90 a share on offer from Debis AirFinance. GE's profit is $116 million.

Mr Blaney said Debis first approached Aerfi in March. "They saw us do the Indigo takeover last year. We both looked and we saw that there was consolidation coming in the sector. By June, we knew we were well on the way to a deal if the financial terms could be sorted out."

Mr Blaney, who will remain with the merged group, said Aerfi and Debis combined would be the world's third biggest aircraft leasing firm, with a fleet of 224 aircraft and a portfolio of owned and managed aircraft worth $5 billion.

Debis chief executive Mr Frank Haspel, who will head the combined group, said: "We've found the ideal partner in Aerfi. We bring together two teams of highly qualified aircraft leasing experts that complement each other exceptionally well."

Debis's largest shareholder is DaimlerChrysler. Other shareholders include Bayerische Landesbank, DG Bank, Dresdner Bank and HypoVereinsbank.

Last November, Aerfi paid $147 million for the Swedish group Indigo Aviation, in a move that increased the size of Aerfi's fleet by 40 per cent. At the same time, Aerfi paid a special dividend of $72 million to its shareholders.

At the time, Mr Blaney said Aerfi had considered reversing itself into Indigo and so retain the Nasdaq listing, but concluded that Aerfi was better off remaining private until it had the scale and track record for an initial public offering.