Las Vegas, Nevada, October 3, 2023, PRNewswire – Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ: ALGT) announces financing commitments for seven Airbus A320 and four Boeing 737 MAX aircraft from BNP Paribas, Europe’s leading bank, and Jackson Square Aviation (JSA), a leading global commercial aircraft lessor.
The innovative $412M deal combines banking and lessor capital to secure Allegiant’s aircraft financing needs into the second quarter 2024, while providing the airline with healthy liquidity at an attractive cost in today’s market.
Allegiant has drawn down $196 million on September 29, and the remainder will be drawn commensurate with its initial 737 MAX deliveries.
Allegiant currently operates an all-Airbus fleet comprised of 127 Airbus A319’s and A320’s.
LOS ANGELES, November 11, 2019 – Air Lease Corporation (the “Company” or “ALC”) announced today that the Company initiated the sale of a portfolio of 19 aircraft to Thunderbolt III Aircraft Lease Limited (“Thunderbolt III”), a newly formed entity, and Thunderbolt III has now completed its equity and debt financing transactions. The aircraft comprise a mix of narrowbody and widebody jet aircraft that, as of August 31, 2019, had a weighted average age of 9.7 years and were leased to 18 lessees based in 15 countries. ALC and its Irish affiliate, ALC Aircraft Limited, will act as servicers with respect to the aircraft and ALC will act as portfolio manager. ALC estimates that the process of transfer and sale of the majority of aircraft will occur progressively during Q4 2019 and Q1 2020.
The Thunderbolt III structure included two series of Fixed Rate Notes and Equity Certificates. Approximately 15.6865% of the Equity Certificates were purchased by the anchor investor which is an investment vehicle managed by ITE Management L.P. and approximately 5% of the Equity Certificates were purchased by ALC.
Proceeds from the issuance of the Notes and the Equity Certificates will be used to acquire the aircraft, fund certain accounts for the Notes and pay certain expenses.
“We are pleased to announce the closing of Thunderbolt III. This transaction allows ALC to efficiently sell 19 aircraft while retaining the customer relationships through our continued management of these aircraft. I would like to thank our team and the Thunderbolt III investors for making this a successful transaction,” said Gregory B. Willis, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ALC.
Mizuho Securities acted as Global Coordinator, Mizuho Securities, BofA Securities and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as Joint Lead Structuring Agents and Joint Lead Bookrunners, Wells Fargo Securities acted as Joint Lead Bookrunner, and BNP PARIBAS, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, MUFG, RBC Capital Markets, SOCIETE GENERALE and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey acted as Passive Bookrunners (for the Notes) and Co-Managers (for the Equity Certificates).
Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP acted as U.S. counsel to ALC and the Issuers, and Milbank LLP acted as U.S. counsel to the Global Coordinator, the Joint Lead Structuring Agents and the Joint Lead Bookrunners. EY acted as U.S. and Irish tax advisors. Walkers acted as Cayman Islands counsel and A&L Goodbody acted as Irish counsel. Vedder Price P.C. acted as counsel for ITE.
Canyon Financial Services Limited will act as the managing agent for the Issuers. Citibank, N.A. will act as trustee, security trustee, paying agent and operating bank. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. will also act as the liquidity facility provider. DealVector, Inc. will provide certain investor services for the holders of the Notes and Equity Certificates.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A helicopter made a crash landing onto the roof of a midtown Manhattan skyscraper on Monday, killing at least one person and sending a plume of smoke skyward from the top of the building. The person deceased is “presumed” to be the pilot.
The crash occurred shortly before 2 p.m. (1800 GMT) on a rainy, foggy day at the 750-foot (229m) AXA Equitable Center at 787 Seventh Avenue. Dozens of emergency vehicles swarmed the busy area, a few blocks north of Times Square.
The chopper took off from a heliport on Manhattan’s east side and crash-landed on the building 11 minutes later, emergency officials said.
The site is about half a mile from Trump Tower, where U.S. President Donald Trump maintains an apartment. The area has been under a temporary flight restriction since his election in November 2016.
Nathan Hutton, who works in information technology for the French bank BNP Paribas on the 29th floor, said the building shook when the helicopter slammed into the roof.
“It felt like you were just standing there, and someone takes their hand and just shoves you,” he said. “You felt it through the whole building.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the aircraft was an Agusta A109E, a twin-engine, lightweight helicopter. The pilot was the only person aboard, and FAA air traffic controllers did not handle the flight, according to the agency.
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash, the FAA said.
Melvin Douglas, 50, who was selling umbrellas on the street, said he heard a “rumble” when the helicopter crash landed.
“I didn’t see it, but I felt it,” said Douglas. “Smoke was on top of the building.”
A fire that broke out on the roof was quickly brought under control, the fire department said. The building was evacuated after the crash.
Trump called New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who was at the scene soon after the crash, to offer assistance if needed, the governor’s office said.
“Phenomenal job by our GREAT First Responders who are currently on the scene,” Trump said on Twitter after being briefed on the crash. “The Trump Administration stands ready should you need anything at all.”
The AXA Equitable Center was built in 1985 and includes more than 50 floors. A roof helipad is not listed as one of the building’s amenities on its website.
In addition to BNP Paribas, the building houses offices for a number of other corporate tenants, including law firms Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Sidley Austin and investment manager New Mountain Capital. Le Bernardin, one of New York City’s most celebrated restaurants, is also located in the AXA building.
The skyscraper is managed by the Los Angeles-based CommonWealth Partners. Reached by telephone, LeAnn Holsapple, the office manager for CommonWealth, said the company had “no comment at this time.”
Helicopters are a regular sight in the air around Manhattan, and they have occasionally been involved in crashes.
Nearly a month ago, a chopper crashed into the Hudson River in New York City shortly after taking off from Manhattan, injuring two people. A sightseeing helicopter went down in New York City’s East River in March 2018, killing five passengers.
Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Additional reporting by Peter Szekely and Jonathan Allen; Writing by Joseph Ax; Editing by David Alexander and Bill Rigby
