ATL Partners and PSP Investments Launch Aviation Leasing Platform with Industry Veteran Richard Wiley
DUBLIN, IRELAND – October 15, 2015 – ATL Partners (“ATL”), a leading aerospace and transportation focused private equity firm, announced today that it is partnering with the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (“PSP Investments”), one of Canada’s largest pension investment managers, to form SKY Leasing. As part of the transaction, SKY Leasing will acquire certain assets of Sky Holding Company (“SHC”) controlled by leasing industry veteran Richard Wiley. Mr. Wiley and other key members of SHC management will form the leadership team of SKY Leasing.
With headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and ancillary operations in San Francisco, California, SKY Leasing has over $250 million of initial equity capital available to provide sale/lease-back financing solutions globally to commercial airlines seeking to lease young mid-life Boeing and Airbus aircraft. SKY Leasing will also act as servicer to 54 aircraft on behalf of three securitizations.
“We are very excited to partner with ATL and PSP Investments, two investors with a deep understanding of the commercial aerospace sector,” said SKY Leasing Chief Executive Officer Mr. Wiley. “We look forward to building a best-in-class lessor with an initial target of $1 billion of Boeing and Airbus aircraft.”
“We have admired Richard’s prior ventures at SHC, Pegasus and Jackson Square Aviation and are delighted to partner with him and his management team in establishing SKY Leasing,” said Frank Nash, Chief Executive Officer of ATL. “As a sector-focused private equity fund, ATL is mandated to deploy equity capital into the transportation continuum and we see tremendous opportunity in delivering financial solutions to the global commercial fleet.”
“As a long-term investor, PSP Investments views aviation finance as an attractive sector to deploy significant capital in the years ahead,” said Jim Pittman, Managing Director, Private Equity for PSP Investments. “This investment is consistent with our direct and co-investment strategy to partner with experienced management teams who have the capability to scale investments over time. We look forward to supporting SKY Leasing as it pursues its ambitious growth plans,” Mr. Pittman added.
The SKY Leasing management team has developed extensive relationships in the global airline community by leasing aircraft to over 100 airline customers globally and executing more than 600 aircraft transactions valued at over $20 billion.
About SKY Leasing
SKY Leasing is a full service aircraft leasing company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The corporate mission of SKY Leasing is to be a leading capital provider to airlines globally for sale and leaseback transactions. SKY Leasing Chief Executive Officer Richard Wiley and his previous management teams co-founded industry leading aircraft lessors including Pegasus Aviation Finance Company (“PAFCO”), which was established in 2004 and sold to AWAS in 2006, and Jackson Square Aviation (“JSA”), which was established in 2010 and sold to Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Company (“MUL”) in 2012. Richard Wiley was the Chief Executive Officer of JSA post-MUL acquisition until March 2015 when he rejoined SHC. For more information about SKY Leasing, visit www.skyleasing.com.
About ATL Partners
The Aerospace, Transportation and Logistics Fund (“ATL Partners”) was formed in 2014 to make private equity and certain preferred securities or debt investments in the aerospace, transportation and logistics sectors principally in North America with enterprise values of $250 million and higher. ATL investment professionals and the members of its executive board, all of whom are accomplished senior executives in ATL's focus sectors, have been investing in these sectors for decades and are well positioned to partner with management teams to drive value creation by identifying and implementing innovative growth initiatives. For more information about ATL Partners, visit www.atlpartners.com.
About PSP Investments
The Public Sector Pension Investment Board is one of Canada's largest pension investment managers with $112.0 billion of net assets under management as of March 31, 2015. Its skilled and dedicated team of professionals manages a diversified global portfolio including public equities, private equity, bonds and other fixed income securities, real estate, infrastructure and natural resources. PSP Investments is a Crown corporation established to manage employer and employee net contributions since April 1, 2000, to the pension funds of the federal Public Service, the Canadian Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and since March 1, 2007, of the Reserve Force. PSP Investments' head office is located in Ottawa, Ontario, and its principal business office is in Montréal, Québec. For more information about PSP Investments, visit www.investpsp.ca.
