Ishka announces 2024 Deal of the Year Award Winners

Ishka has announced the full list of winners for its Deals of the Year Awards. The awards will be celebrated across three upcoming Ishka conferences: Ishka's Aviation Finance Festival on the 20th of May, at the Conrad Hotel in Dublin, Ishka’s inaugural Singapore conference on the 4th of September, and in New York at Ishka’s Aviation Investival: North America on the 14th of October.
 
Ishka would like to offer a very warm and sincere thanks to all the institutions that submitted deals. 
To find out more about the awards or to get access to the conferences, please contact Richard Jacques (richard@ishkaglobal.com), or James Ward (James@ishkaglobal.com).
 

 

1. Best European M&A 2024: Avolon's acquisition of Castlelake Aviation Limited

Irish aircraft lessor Avolon completed the acquisition of Castlelake Aviation Limited - a $5 billion aircraft portfolio of newer aircraft formed by US aircraft asset manager Castlelake. This was one of the largest aircraft portfolio deals completed last year. The final portfolio comprised 106 aircraft on lease, with commitments for ten new‑technology aircraft, two engines and nine loans across multiple jurisdictions.

Winning borrower and participants: Borrower: Avolon, Advisers to Avolon: Clifford Chance and KPMG, Seller: Castlelake Aviation Limited, Financial adviser to Castlelake: Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Legal counsel to Castlelake: Milbank LLP, A&L Goodbody LLP as Irish counsel for Castlelake 
 

2. Best Americas M&A 2024: Brookfield's investment partnership with Castlelake

Brookfield Asset Management, a global alternative‑investment manager, acquired a 51% equity interest in Castlelake, while Brookfield Wealth Solutions committed to deploying a further $1.5 billion into Castlelake’s funds and strategies. Castlelake continues to operate independently under its existing governance and leadership. The deal includes mechanisms for Brookfield to acquire additional ownership of Castlelake in the future.

Winning firms and participants: Bookfield and Castlelake. Evercore and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP acted as Brookfield’s financial and legal advisers, respectively.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Colchester Partners provided financial advice to Castlelake, with Kirkland & Ellis LLP serving as its legal counsel.

3. Best Asian M&A 2024: Air India and Vistara's Merger

Air India’s merger with Vistara positioned the Air India Group as India’s largest international carrier and second-largest domestic airline, with a combined fleet of 218 aircraft. This followed the earlier consolidation of its low-cost carriers, Air India Express and AIX Connect, and forms part of the Air India Group’s five-year transformation programme. The merger was completed on 12 November 2024.

Winning borrower and participants: Parties: Air India Group and Tata SIA Airlines (Vistara), Adviser: Watson Farley & Williams.
 

4. Best Americas Deal 2024: Boeing’s $24.3 billion upsized dual-tranche offering

Boeing raised $24.3 billion in October 2024, as the manufacturer looked to improve its liquidity and realign its capital structure. The company issued $16 billion in common equity, plus a $2.4 billion greenshoe, pricing at $143 per share with a file / offer discount of 7.7%. The second tranche consisted of $5 billion (plus $750 million greenshoe) mandatory convertible preferred notes, with a maturity of three years, dividend of 6%, and conversion premium of 20%. The transaction was oversubscribed across both tranches.

Winning borrower and participants: Boeing as borrower. Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities, Citigroup, and J.P. Morgan as lead joint bookrunning managers. Wells Fargo Securities, BNP PARIBAS, Deutsche Bank Securities, Mizuho, Morgan Stanley, RBC Capital Markets, and SMBC Nikko as joint bookrunning managers. Credit Agricole CIB, MUFG, Commerzbank , Santander, Academy Securities, Loop Capital Markets, Raymond James, and Siebert Williams Shank as co-managers. BTIG as a co-manager for the common stock offering and US Bancorp as a co-manager for the depositary shares offering. PJT Partners acted as Boeing's financial advisor for the offerings

 

5. Best European Deal 2024: Avolon's  BETA ALIA CX300 Electric Aircraft Sale-Leaseback

In the closing weeks of 2024, Avolon and Air New Zealand signed a letter of intent (LOI) to purchase and leaseback to Air New Zealand a single BETA ALIA CX300, a soon-to-be-certified electric conventional take-off and landing (e-CTOL) aircraft capable of carrying five passengers or a half-tonne payload.

Though modest in scale, the deal sets a major industry precedent. Once the aircraft delivers in 2026, it will become the first battery-electric aircraft owned by a commercial aircraft lessor. The deal was led by Avolon-e, an Avolon affiliate hosting its investments and commitments in the new propulsion space. For more details, read Ishka SAVi’s interview with Avolon SVP Portfolio Strategy and head of Avolon-e, Marc Tembleque. Winning participant: Avolon.

 

6. Best Asian Deal 2024: Air India's GIFT City A320neo Financing

This is the first commercial aircraft financing structured through Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).  The $75 million, 12-year senior secured term loan was in favour of a SPC incorporated in Ireland to buy two new CFM LEAP-powered A320neos. The aircraft were delivered in March 2024, and then leased to AI Fleet Services IFSC Limited (AI Fleet), a GIFT city entity that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India Limited (Air India). The  aircraft was then subleased to Vistara, now merged with Air India for a period of 12 years.

Winning borrower and participants: Air India. Standard Chartered Bank is the Mandated Lead Arranger. Watson Farley & Williams and AZB & Partners were the lawyers.

 

7. Best MEA Deal 2024: Altavair / Qatar Airways Term Loan

This was a $75.6 million co-terminus term loan financing three 777-300 ER aircraft on lease from Altavair to Qatar.  The aircraft, financed via this transaction, were part of a trade with the Bank of China. The transaction has a unique structure as it bifurcates an amortising and balloon tranche structure to maximize overall advance and optimise pricing for Altavair. Each tranche is pari-passu with the underlying collateral. In addition, the assets are subject to EOL compensation based on mirror-in / mirror-out conditions. The facility structures around the EOL for each aircraft incorporating EOL tests to ensure a net level of EOL payable during the term.

Winning borrower and participants: Altavair. Lenders included MUFG, Caixa Bank. Vedder Price was the legal counsel.
 

8. Best Capital Markets Deal 2024: JetBlue's $2.765bn Loyalty Financing

JetBlue Airways made its inaugural loyalty-backed financing in August 2024. Secured against the company’s loyalty programme TrueBlue, JetBlue issued $2 billion in senior secured 9.875% notes due 2031, which priced at 99.363. The transaction also included a $765 million senior secured term loan due 2029, at S+550bps and priced at 98.0.

The transaction was rated B1 / B+ / BB by Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch respectively, and included a reserve account with three months of principal and interest. Alongside the transaction, JetBlue issued $400 million in convertible 2.5% senior unsecured notes due 2029, with an initial conversion price of $6.12 and a conversion premium of 27.5%. Purchasers of the notes were granted an option to purchase an additional $60 million, which was fully exercised.

Winning borrower and participants:  JetBlue as borrower. Goldman Sachs as left lead bookrunner on the term and joint lead arranger on the secured notes issuance. Barclays as a structuring agent and joint lead bookrunner. BNP Paribas as joint bookrunner. Milbank and Walkers advised Goldman Sachs and Barclays. White & Case LLP and Appleby advised JetBlue. 

 
9. Best Commercial Bank Deal 2024: VivaAerobus Portfolio Term Loan

This was an extremely flexible, secured financing structured to maximise the advance rate against each of the assets financed. Each tranche, as a result, features a dual-step amortisation profile, allowing Viva to maximise their day 1 advance and provide lenders comfort with the development of the LTV during the term of the financing.

The transaction also addressed the cost of near-term engine performance restoration events ("EPR"), via EPR-driven LTV tests, supporting the high day 1 advance across the assets in the portfolio. The structure takes into consideration the maintenance condition of the assets during the term of the deal across three vertically cross-collateralised tranches.

Initially, the financing was closed as a $154 million dual-tranche loan, financing four A320ceo being acquired by Viva from SMBC Aviation Capital and four PW1133 GTF engines, being acquired from Pratt & Whitney. The facility was later upsized by $52 million to support Viva’s acquisition of an additional 2x A320ceo aircraft from Avolon.

Winning borrower and participants: VivaAerobus. HSBC Mexico, BOT Lease, Mizhuo Marubeni Leasing and Stonebriar. Lawyers : Vedder Price, Hogan Lovells, Sierra LATAM
 

10. Most Innovative Deal 2024: JetBlue $662 million secured A/B term loan facility

This deal, the largest A/B term loan facility originated in aviation, was a $662 million transaction secured by 18 Airbus narrowbody aircraft. The structure consisted of a $470 million A tranche, underwritten by BNP Paribas, and a $192 million B tranche underwritten by Jackson Square Aviation. A portion of the series A loans were then refinanced into the capital markets via series A notes.

Ishka understands that this is a novel transaction – particularly in that it allows lenders to able to refinance part or all of their term loans into notes held by different noteholders without giving up the secured structure of the term loan itself.

Winning borrower and participants: JetBlue as borrower. BNP Paribas, Jackson Square Aviation, Airbus Bank GmbH, UMB Bank (National Association, as trustee for JBLU UT 2024 Pass Through Trust) as Series A and Series B lenders.

Milbank LLP as counsel to the lenders. Debevoise & Plimpton LLP as counsel to JetBlue. Richards, Layton & Finger as Delaware counsel to JetBlue. Gilchrist Aviation Law as FAA counsel. Parr Brown Gee & Loveless as counsel to Bank of Utah, in its capacity as security trustee.
 

11. Best Used Aircraft Deal 2024: United Airlines’ ~$1.35 billion EETC

United Airlines’ UAL 2024-1 was the sole public EETC of the year, and the first EETC from United to feature midlife aircraft as collateral. The issue comprised a $969 million Class AA tranche and a $385 million Class A tranche. 48 United Boeing aircraft were used as collateral, including 737 MAX 8 and 9s, 737-800s, 737-900ERs, 787-10s, and 777-300ERs. Both tranches priced at par.

The AA tranche priced with a coupon of 5.450%, spread of 119bps and with an initial LTV of 44% - the highest ever AA leverage for United. The A tranche achieved a coupon of 5.875% and spread of 162 bps. The tranche’s LTV of 61.5% was the highest for a subordinated Class A issued by United.

The AA notes were rated Aa3 and AA by Moody’s and S&P respectively, while the A notes received ratings of A3 and A. An initial 18-month liquidity facility was provided by Natixis.

Winning borrower and participants: United Airlines as borrower. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as joint structuring agents, and also lead bookrunners along with Citi and Deutsche Bank. BofA Securities, Barclays, BNP Paribas, J.P. Morgan, Mizuho, MUFG, NatWest Markets, SMBC Nikko, Credit Agricole Securities, Loop Capital Markets, Natixis, Raymond James, Academy Securities, and AmeriVet Securities as bookrunners. Hughes Hubbard & Reed as issuer’s Counsel. Milbank as underwriter’s counsel.
 

12. Best Restructuring Deal 2024: SAS' Chapter 11 Exit Financing

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) successfully emerged from its US Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings with $1.2 billion of exit financing provided by a consortium of Castlelake LP, Air France‑KLM, Lind Invest and the Danish State. The $1.2 billion exit financing consisted of $475 million in new unlisted equity and $725 million in secured convertible debt. The exit from chapter 11 was followed by a reorganisation of the Swedish company at the company’s parent company, SAS Group (SAS AB).

Winning borrower and participants: Borrower: Scandanavian Airlines, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP as global legal counsel to SAS, Mannheimer Swartling Advokatbyrå AB as Swedish legal counsel to SAS, McCann FitzGerald as Irish legal counsel to SAS. Aviation consultant to Castlelake: SkyWorks Holdings LLC. A&L Goodbody LLP as Irish counsel for Castlelake, L.P. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP as legal counsel to Castlelake, L.P. Milbank LLP, special aviation counsel to Castlelake, L.P. White & Case LLP, Euclid Law and Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP as co-legal counsel to Air France-KLM S.A. Bech-Bruun Law Firm P/S as legal counsel to Lind Invest ApS. Latham & Watkins LLP as US legal counsel to Lind Invest ApS. Wilkie Farr & Gallagher LLP as legal counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors. DLA Piper LLP as Scandinavian counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors.
 

13. Best Lessor Deal 2024: Carlyle Aviation Partners’ AASET 2024-1

Asset manager Carlyle Aviation Partners (Carlyle) broke the public aircraft ABS drought when it bought a $428.1 million aircraft ABS to market in mid-2024 - the first public commercial aircraft securitisation for two years. The initial single tranche A-note securitisation of 12 aircraft was then expanded with eight additional aircraft and $321.2 million in pari-passu A-2 notes. In August 2024, Carlyle announced it had issued $81.44 million of class B notes to the ABS.

The A and A-2 notes priced with spreads of 205, and were rated A- / A by S&P and KBRA respectively.

The deal opened the door for a returning aircraft lease ABS market in 2024 and 2025, with further issuances by Carlyle and others.

Winning borrower and participants: Carlyle Aviation Partners as borrower. Goldman Sachs as global coordinator, sole structuring agent and joint lead bookrunner, BNP Paribas, Natixis, SMBC Nikko, and Societe Generale as joint lead bookrunners. Milbank LLP acted as legal counsel to Carlyle. Clifford Chance US LLP acted as legal counsel to the lenders.

 

14. Best Engine Deal 2024: FTAI and LATAM Engine Exchange and SLB

This was a sale/leaseback and engine exchange programme between FTAI and LATAM for over 30 aircraft, complete with engine maintenance, repair and exchange contracts. The transaction provided LATAM with a comprehensive engine power solution comprised of both CFM56 and V2500 engines, offering LATAM cost savings and flexibility by avoiding shop visits through engine exchanges.

Winning borrower and participants: FTAI and LATAM. Gibson Dunn advised FTAI, Norton Rose was counsel to LATAM.

 

15. Best Supported Financing Deal 2024: Azorra’s BNDES and ITASCA Embraer Financing

This was an innovative R$1.1 billion ($190 million) non-recourse financing agreement between Azorra and Brazilian export credit agency BNDES to finance eight Embraer E2 jets under Azorra's E2 orderbook. The deal was supported by commercial non-payment insurance (NPI) provider Itasca, and the transaction represents the first time an ECA has worked with a private NPI for a lessor financing. The strength of Scoot’s credit score (a SIA subsidiary) allows Azorra to access the lowest premiums under the ASU rules, creating a flexible and attractive financing package.

Winning borrower and participants: Azorra. BNDES, Itasca MGA Limited was the insurer agent while  Fidelis Insurance and Starr International Companies were the insurers. Norton Rose Fulbright advised BNDES, while Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP advised Azorra, and  Milbank LLP acted for ITASCA.

 

16. Best Regional Jet Deal 2024: Chorus' sale of its regional aircraft leasing arm to HPS

In July 2024, Chorus Aviation agreed to sell its regional aircraft leasing arm, including Falko Regional Aircraft Limited, to affiliates of HPS Investment Partners for $1.9 billion. The transaction eliminated $1.7 billion of financings, wiping out all regional aircraft leasing debt alongside all of Chorus’s corporate borrowings, significantly deleveraging its balance sheet. Winning borrower and participants: Seller: Chorus Aviation, Lead financial adviser: Goldman Sachs, Additional financial adviser: Scotiabank, Legal counsel: Milbank LLP.

 

17. Best ECA Deal 2024: Pegasus’ Bpifrance-supported Engine Maintenance Financing

This deal amended and extended the Bpifrance-supported debt facility for engine shop visits & life-limited parts financing for Pegasus Airlines.

The transaction consists of a term loan supported by a credit insurance policy provided by Bpifrance covering the financing of engine maintenance contracts between Pegasus and the engine OEM CFM International. Pegasus is the first airline to use this new financing solution to finance the maintenance associated with engine shop visits.

Winning borrower and participants:  Pegasus. Société Générale acting as sole arranger and facility agent. Bpifrance Assurance Export is the export credit agency. Norton Rose Fulbright LLP advised SG, while Holland & Knight LLP was the borrower’s counsel and Dikici Law Office was local counsel.
 

18. Best Alt Lenders Deal 2024: PK AirFinance’s PKAIR 2024-1 ABS

Alternative lender PK AirFinance issued the first aviation loan ABS of the year in June 2024, the $622.25 million PKAIR 2024-1. The transaction was backed by a portfolio of 27 airline aircraft loan facilities, financing 122 aircraft and engines.

PKAIR 2024-1 saw its top tranches – A-1 and A-F (floating rate) – awarded AAA ratings by both KNRA and DBRS, a first for modern aviation ABS. These were the only two tranches publicly marketed – the B, C, and D tranches were placed with affiliates of PK AirFinance prior to marketing.

The spreads achieved by the A-1 and A-F tranches, 150 and 170, were notably tighter than for aviation lease ABS A tranches pricing in the same year – a trend that continued with further aviation loan ABS in 2024, including from PK AirFinance.

Winning borrower and participants: PK AirFinance / Apollo PK Air Management as borrower / servicer. Perseus Aviation Servicing Limited as special servicer. U.S. Bank Trust Company, National Association as Collateral Agent/Trustee. Apollo Global Securities as sole lead arranger. Redding Ridge Asset Management LLC as structuring agent. BNP Paribas Securities Corp., Mizuho Securities USA LLC, and RBC Capital Markets, LLC as joint bookrunners.

 

19. Editor’s Choice 2024: AerFin's A330 disassembly for CDB Aviation

In 2023, CDB Aviation was appointed as marketing services provider in respect of six unserviceable A330-200s that had been parked at Hong Kong International Airport since 2018. The complication was that to monetise the aircraft, the purchaser would be required to perform the first ever commercial disassembly in Hong Kong Airport. CDB Aviation selected AerFin for the teardown who had to work with eight local stakeholders to perform the teardown, including working with the Civil Aviation Department and the Airport Authority. AerFin helped establish a protected disassembly bay with appropriate safety measures to prevent disruptions to airport operations. The teardown was successful, and the bay was later used to dismantle additional aircraft.

Winning borrower and participants: AerFin and CDB Aviation. HAECO, Hong Kong Airlines, GCAC & Skyrise, B&H Global, PAPAS and with cooperation from Hong Kong’s Airport Authority and Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department. Legal advisor AerFin (in house) and Clifford Chance.
 

20. Sustainable Financing Pioneer Award: Turkish Airlines' x2 A321neo sustainability-linked JOLCO financing

Over the past two years, the sustainable finance market for aviation has been characterised by repeat issuers, with airlines dabbling in sustainability-linked KPIs for the first time the minority in this market. Turkish Airlines’s X2 A321neo sustainability-linked JOLCO financing announced in September 2024 was a notable debut. The first sustainable finance transaction by Turkish Airlines included sustainability performance targets (SPTs) based on carbon intensity reduction.

Winning borrower: Turkish Airlines. Lender and lawyers: Société Générale as structuring agent. Norton Rose Fulbright LLP and Nishimura & Asahi as lender’s counsel, Clyde & Co as counsel to the lessee, and Dikici Law Office as the local (Turkish) counsel.

 

21. Sustainable Financing Pioneer Award: IAG’s $3bn Sustainability-linked RCF

In June 2024, IAG entered into a $3.0 billion sustainability-linked Revolving Credit Facility (RCF), the largest sustainability-linked aviation transaction in 2024 as well as the largest deal in Ishka SAVi's sustainable finance tracker. The facility is accessible by British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus, each of which has separate limits. The RCF replaced and consolidated over $4.3 billion in undrawn facilities, including IAG’s previous $1.755 billion RCF, as well as British Airways’ two £1.0 billion ($1.3 billion) Export Development Guarantee Facilities that were partially guaranteed by UK Export Finance (UKEF).

Winning borrower: International Airlines Group (IAG) Lenders and legal advisors: MUFG Bank

Ishka would like to offer a very warm and sincere thanks to all the institutions that emailed deal submissions. Please note that deal parties are based on information from submissions if your institution is missing in a deal summary please email Dickon Harris (dickon@ishkaglobal.com).

 

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