Chorus Aviation to launch aircraft leasing subsidiary 'Chorus Aviation Capital'

Chorus Aviation will establish a new regional aircraft leasing subsidiary, Chorus Aviation Capital, and has entered into an agreement pursuant to which Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited and certain of its subsidiaries will invest CAD$200m in Chorus through a private placement of 200,000 convertible debt units. In recent years, Chorus has steadily grown its aircraft leasing revenues from aircraft deployed under the capacity purchase agreement between Jazz Aviation and Air Canada, reaching CAD $71.9m in the first nine months ended September 30, 2016. On November 9, 2016, Chorus announced a transaction involving the lease of up to four Bombardier CRJ1000 aircraft to Air Nostrum, Lineas Aereas Del Mediterraneo, S.A., marking the first significant aircraft leasing transaction outside of the CPA. The establishment of an aircraft leasing subsidiary supported by Fairfax’s CAD$200m investment in Chorus provides Chorus with a solid foundation from which to realize its ambition of building a globally-competitive, regional aircraft leasing business capable of providing a full suite of services to regional aircraft operators. Chorus Aviation Capital will be led by Steven Ridolfi as President. Mr. Ridolfi.