Milbank LLP advised Maverick Aviation Partnership LP, an investment vehicle managed by Carlyle Aviation Partners, in connection with an agreement to acquire AMCK Aviation’s (“AMCK”) portfolio of aircraft. Through the transaction, Maverick will acquire 125 primarily narrowbody aircraft and an order book of 20 A320/321 neo aircraft. The total appraised value of the existing fleet is in excess of $4 billion, not including the order book.
AMCK is a global aircraft leasing company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland with regional offices in Tokyo, Japan and Irvine, California. It is owned by CK Asset Holdings Limited, the majority shareholder of AMCK, and Li Ka Shing (Global) Foundation.
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022 and is conditioned upon the satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Maverick’s primary investor is an affiliate of CPPIB Credit Investments Inc. (“CPPIB Credit Investments”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, an institution with a proven track record in aircraft leasing having previously owned a significant stake in AWAS, a Dublin-based aircraft lessor. Carlyle Aviation Partners will be the asset servicer for the vehicle.
Carlyle Aviation Partners is the commercial aviation investment and servicing arm of Carlyle’s $66 billion Global Credit platform. It is a multi-strategy aviation investment manager that seeks to capitalize on its extensive technical knowledge, in-depth industry expertise and long-standing presence in the aviation sector. As of September 30, 2021, and excluding the planned acquisition of AMCK’s portfolio, it has total assets under management of $8.3 billion, owns, manages or is committed to purchase 311 aircraft with 106 airline lessees in 56 countries, and employs a team of more than 95 in the US, Ireland and Singapore.
The Milbank team was led by partners Drew Fine (Transportation and Space, New York) and Dean Sattler (Corporate/M&A, New York), and included partners Russell Jacobs (Tax, London), Freyda Mechlowicz (Transportation and Space, New York), Brett Nadritch (Capital Markets, New York), Lisa O’Neill (Corporate/M&A, London), Dara Panahy (Transportation and Space, Washington, DC), Alexander Rinne (Antitrust, Munich), Charles Stern (Leveraged Finance, New York), Fiona Schaeffer (Antitrust, New York), and Andrew Walker (Tax, New York).
The team was supported by special counsels Merih Altay (Corporate/M&A, London), Andrew Wellin (Antitrust, New York), and Alan Rafferty (Tax, London) and associates Daniel Tyrrell, Adeola Adeyosoye, Frank Pensabene and Sam Schaffer (Corporate/M&A, New York), James MacKay and Kate Miels (Corporate/M&A, London), Niels Jensen, Justin Silver, Christopher Balch, Glenn Kim, Courtney Dickson and Erin Perley (Transportation & Space, New York), Sean Heiden (Transportation and Space and Global Risk & National Security Practice, Washington DC), Jessica Jolivette (Leveraged Finance, New York), Fareed Muhammed and Pranav Subhedar (Tax, London), Moritz Lichtenegger (Antitrust, Munich) and Min Kim (Project, Energy and Infrastructure Finance, Singapore).
