TrueNoord, the independent regional aircraft lessor, has secured new investment from existing and new investors. This brings total equity available to nearly US$400 million to expand TrueNoord's aircraft portfolio and partially refinance the existing fleet as it embarks upon the next phase of growth. It complements a senior secured debt facility of US$500 million which was announced in July.
Following the equity and debt raise, TrueNoord is targeting an acceleration of its growth plans with a strategy to substantially grow its existing fleet of 30 Embraer, Bombardier and ATR aircraft within the next five years, and building on its strong presence in Europe through further expansion in Asia, Africa and the Americas. New equity was raised from its original investors, Bregal Freshstream, BlackRock and Aberdeen Standard, alongside further investment from a number of new investors including Capital Dynamics, Euro Private Equity and Flandrin, amongst others. The US$500 million secured debt facility was arranged and fully underwritten by Morgan Stanley, NORD/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank and Barclays.
TrueNoord focuses on the acquisition of relatively young aircraft with leases attached to stable and well-positioned airlines. The Company is well-placed to take advantage of the inherent growth potential of the regional aircraft leasing market and, since launching, has developed an extensive network of airline, technical, financial and OEM contacts that is, in the specialist regional aircraft lessor market, second only to Denmark-based lessor Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) in terms of scale.
