Bohai to combine air-leasing businesses after $7.6 billion Avolon acquisition deal

Bohai Leasing Co. is expected to merge its air-leasing businesses after the $7.6 billion Avalon Holdings Ltd acquisition deal is completed early next year, Hong Kong Aviation Capital chief executive officer Donal Boylan said Tuesday.

Bloomberg Business reported that Boylan said the company will settle under one brand, which is probably Avolon, as it moves forward. Bohai seeks to compete against BOC Aviation Pte.'s among air lessor companies in China. This competing company is planning to expand overseas to keep up with the increasing demand for aircraft driven by the fast growth of travels. Leased planes make up a third of the total fleet in the Asia-Pacific. Bohai said Hong Kong Aviation Capital and Avolon will integrate operations and improve the company's competitiveness in the aircraft leasing business.

"In scale we'd like to be top five, even top three in the world, but we will not do that at the price of quality," according to Boylan. "It's this dichotomy of wanting to get to the top in terms of size, but how to do it and maintain your discipline about long leases, collateral, good customers and good aircraft."

In October 21 The Irish Times reported that Avolon shareholders voted in favor for Bohai Leasing's acquisition on the company. Some 87.5 percent voted in person, with 99.8 of the voters supporting the deal. The acquisition is expected to be completed in next year's first quarter. Avolon went into exclusive talks with Bohai in August on the acquisition priced at $32 a share, or just over $2.63 billion.

According to RTE, the merger will turn Avolon into a privately held company, which means its common shares won't be listed in the New York Stock Exchange anymore. Avalon is founded by Domhnal Slattery and John Higgins in 2010. It went public December last year. The company has 258 aircraft serving 56 customers in 33 different countries as of September 2015.

Avalon has its headquarter in Ireland, with offices in the United States, Dubai, Singapore and China. It offers aircraft rentals and lease management services.