As part of its plan to adapt to the changing landscape of the aircraft leasing market, LCI, an aircraft leasing group, has agreed to sell a 35% stake in the business to Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Company (SMFL). The agreement was announced at the end of March by Libra Group, the parent company of LCI.
Libra group also made it clear that this new investment in the business will help it to expand its business by around US$1.5 billion, with a substantial portion of this expansion coming from taking positions in the fast-emerging advanced air mobility (AAM) sector. Along with several other lessors, LCI has looked over the past year to invest more heavily in new electric and hybrid-electric aircraft. This includes the announcement of provisional sales agreements for up to 125 of Beta Technologies’ Alia 250 eVTOL models and up to 40 of Elroy Air’s Chaparral’s autonomous freighters.
Jaspal Jandu, CEO of LCI, anticipates considerable growth from newly emerging opportunities such as the role helicopters could play in supporting offshore wind-energy infrastructure and also eVTOL applications that could include passenger transportation, emergency medical support and cargo deliveries. Anticipating certain problems with the initial start of passenger-carrying eVTOL air services, Jandu said LCI’s current focus will be to identify applications such as cargo and logistics for the new aircraft types in its portfolio. Jandu also said that LCI’s understanding of the technology is advancing at pace and that new business models such as providing equipment and supporting services on a power-by-the-electron basis in a way that “means we could be slightly agnostic on the residual values.”
SMFL has already made investments in relation to LCI’s current portfolio, having backed the launch of a US$230 million leasing joint venture in September 2020 that covered the purchases of 19 helicopters. This partnership has since grown to create a portfolio with more than 50 aircraft having a combined value of US$550 million. (£1.00 = US$1.25 at time of publication).
