Global law firm Clifford Chance has advised ALAFCO Aviation Lease and Finance Company KSCP (“ALAFCO”) on the sale of its aviation leasing business to Macquarie AirFinance Group Limited (“MAF”). This transaction involved the sale of a portfolio comprising 75 aircraft and an order book of 20 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for approximately US$3.3 billion.
This landmark transaction involved a multijurisdictional cross-practice team, mixing expertise in asset finance, corporate, employment, antitrust and litigation. The portfolio of aircraft sold are on lease to over 20 airlines and were all subject to financing prior to the sale, whilst antitrust clearance in multiple jurisdictions was required.
ALAFCO’s CEO, Mr. Adel Al Banwan, commented, “We are delighted to have secured and concluded this landmark transaction and would like to thank all parties involved. The sale of a portfolio of 75 aircraft required careful planning and in turn we needed to consider a range of legal issues such as anti-trust considerations as well as adherence to the various local laws relevant to an aircraft’s place of registration. With the help and professionalism of all involved, we addressed all legal issues and successfully concluded a complex cross-border asset sale.”
ALAFCO’s General Counsel, Paul Mercer, added, “A key factor in the successful closing was the co-operative attitude of all parties throughout and early planning which set out in detail the steps towards completion which included possible alternatives in the event of issues.” Paul commented further that “ALAFCO are thankful for the comprehensive and expert legal support provided by Clifford Chance which required advice on a range of legal practice areas and jurisdictions with extra special thanks to Qudeer Latif and the Clifford Chance team in Dubai for leading Clifford Chance’s support.”
The team was led by Partners Qudeer Latif (Dubai, Global Financial Markets) and Daud Khan (Abu Dhabi, Corporate) with support from various experts from across the Clifford Chance network, including:
- Financing: Stephen Chance (Head of Asset Finance, Abu Dhabi), Igor Bichenkov (Senior Associate, Dubai), Greg Jehle (Senior Associate, Abu Dhabi), Vanessa Simpungwe (Associate, Dubai), Remoratile Mogodi (Associate, Abu Dhabi), Duaa Abbas (Associate, Dubai), Raad Gorji (Associate, Dubai), Aishah Bashir (Associate, Dubai) and Razan Samkari (Trainee Solicitor, Dubai).
- Corporate: George Holman (Senior Associate, Abu Dhabi), Tom Lloyd (Senior Associate, Dubai), and Stavros Paterakis (Associate, Dubai).
- Antitrust: Alex Nourry (Consultant, London), Greg Hayes (Senior Associate, London) and Mehjabin Ahmed (Associate, London).
- Employment: Chinwe Odimba-Chapman (Partner, London), Andrew Patterson (Partner, London), Alistair Green (Senior Associate, London) and Leon Kidd (Associate, London).
- Litigation: Jeff Butler (Partner, New York).
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For further information about Clifford Chance see www.cliffordchance.com
For further information about this press release, please contact:
Suparna Mukherjee (Acting Co-Head of Business Development and Marketing, Middle East) on suparna.mukherjee@cliffordchance.com
About Clifford Chance
- Clifford Chance is one of the world’s largest law firms with significant depth and range of resources across five continents. As a single, fully integrated, global partnership, we pride ourselves on our approachable, collegiate and team-based way of working. We always strive to exceed the expectations of our clients, which include corporates from all the commercial and industrial sectors, governments, regulators, trade bodies and not for profit organisations. We provide them with the highest quality advice and legal insight, which combines the firm’s global standards with in-depth local expertise.
- Named Banking and Finance Law Firm of the Year at The Legal 500 Middle East and North Africa Awards 2024.
- Named International Law Firm of the Year at the IFLR Middle East Awards 2023.
- Named Middle East International Law Firm of the Year at the Chambers Middle East Awards 2023.
- Consistently ranked Band 1 in legal directories, Clifford Chance received more ‘Band 1‘ rankings than any other firm in Chambers Global, Legal 500 and IFLR1000.
- Clifford Chance was awarded 15 awards at the Bonds, Loans & Sukuk Awards 2023 and 8 awards at the IFLR Middle East Awards 2023. Clifford Chance was named Banking Legal Adviser of the Year at the Bonds, Loans & Sukuk Middle East Awards 2022, International Law Firm of the Year at the IFLR Middle East Awards 2023, International Law Firm of the Year (Middle East) at the Middle East Legal Awards 2023 and Middle East International Law Firm of the Year at the Chambers Middle East Awards 2023.
