Aero Capital Solutions (ACS), the aircraft leasing platform, has announced the acquisition of 20 A320 family aircraft from Easyjet on a sale-and-leaseback basis.

The transactions were completed in two tranches during 2020.

“Working collaboratively with our airline partners, we are able to build highly competitive and tailored solutions which support fleet development needs,” said ACS’ chief commercial officer. Daniel Watson.

Easyjet’s director of strategy, Shane Lord added: “Easyjet is one of the leading low-cost carriers in Europe, and including this recent transaction, is strategically well-positioned to emerge from the pandemic even stronger than before.”

“The facilitation of sale-and-leaseback of these aircraft to our key strategic partner ACS has provided fleet planning and liquidity benefits for easyJet. The team at ACS have demonstrated an ability to bring innovative and competitive solutions to minimise Easyjet’s cash expenditure in the medium-term.”

Lord continued, “Easyjet will continue to review its liquidity position on a regular basis and will continue to assess further funding options, including those that exist in the robust sale-and-leaseback market.”

According to the statement, the transaction was supported by Deutsche Bank and volofin Capital Management who acted as lenders to the transactions.

Vedder Price represented Aero Capital Solutions, Norton Rose Fulbright represented Easyjet and Milbank represented the lenders.