As a specialist of inter-regional transport, Chalair Aviation is a French airline company present in Caen, Brest, Rennes, Nantes, Bordeaux, Pau, Montpellier, Limoges, Lyon and Paris-CdG.
With the planned withdrawal of turboprops (ATR type) from the HOP fleet (Air France Group), Chalair Aviation decided to position their operations on this type of aircraft of 48 to 72 seats, by becoming the French operator of reference, with a fleet consisting initially of 5 aircraft.
In June 2018, the company negotiated with HOP the purchase of four ATRs: one ATR72-500 and three ATR42-500. The new Predirec ABL-2 fund (« ABL2 »), recently launched by Acofi in partnership with Chetwode, will finance the operation for a total amount of 13.7M€, starting with a first aircraft, already financed in early November.
Passenger planes represent a significant innovation for the Predirec ABL-2 fund managed by Acofi Gestion, as does the financing scheme used: a loan granted to an intra-group company, which in turn leases the aircraft to Chalair. This is a significant move away from the leasing or sale & leaseback scheme, traditionally used by Chetwode and Acofi, specifically within the framework of their first fund, Predirec Leasing Stratégique (« ABL1 »). It’s also worth noting that the currency used for this financing is the euro, whereas most transactions in the aircraft industry are carried out in dollars.
« The acquisition of these four aircraft will allow Chalair to complete its inter-regional network and be well positioned in the provision of Public Service airline routes. We are delighted to contribute to the transport network for less well served territories and guarantee their transport connections. The reactivity of the Chetwode team and their expertise in asset finance were determining factors in the implementation of this financing», states Alain Battisti, President of Chalair Aviation and President of the National Federation of Commercial Aviation (FNAM).
« We are proud to support Chalair in its conquest of new inter-regional routes, all the more so since the financing of the 3 other aircraft is already scheduled from December 2018 to March 2019, thus contributing to the widening of our scope of intervention and the deployment of the new ABL2 fund «, comments Jean-Baptiste Magnen, President of Chetwode, « After the 2014 launch of the first strategic industrial asset fund in continental Europe, we are happy to further develop our activities by opening a new asset class with passenger planes».
Participants:
CHALAIR: Alain and Francis Battisti / ACOFI: Alexia Picot and Hugo Thomas / CHETWODE: Jean-Baptiste Jozan, Michael Thorley and Christine Wiart
Technical and legal advisors: AVICO ASSET MANAGEMENT – Jean-Noël Garnier / STEPHENSON HARWOOD – Yann Beckers, Hugues Hounkpati and Borislava Koleva
