Firm’s role honoured in 7 Deals of the Year, including largest Asia aircraft financing of 2016

In further recognition of its market-leading transportation finance practice areas, Milbank’s Global Transportation Finance Group won Aircraft Finance Law Firm of the Year and acted on seven Deals of the Year at the Global Transport Finance annual awards gala and dinner held in London on 23 January.

In conferring on Milbank the overall honour for aircraft finance, GTF noted the firm’s standout work advising Accipiter Holdings in 2016’s largest Asia-related aircraft financing; leasing company Avolon in two notable acquisitions; and leasing firm Goshawk in the first schuldschein, a German debt instrument, by an aircraft leasing company.

The sophisticated and challenging matters for which Milbank is renowned earned the firm seven Deals of the Year awards, including:

•  Shipping Debt Deal of the Year – Asia (Reliance Ethane Ship Financing)

•    Aircraft Finance Deal of the Year – Asia Pacific (Accipiter Holdings’ US$1.2 billion portfolio financing of 43 aircraft)

•    Aircraft Finance Portfolio Acquisition Deal of the Year (BNP Paribas-led financing for DVB/KKR JV’s acquisition of 37 aircraft from AerCap)

•  Airport Finance Deal of the Year – Americas (US$275 million US dollar-denominated tranche of the $500 million dual currency financing for Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, Chile)

•    Aircraft Securitization Deal of the Year – US (AASET 2016-2 – Apollo Aviation)

•    EETC Deal of the Year (United Airlines US$920 million EETC)

•    Operating Lease Deal of the Year – Middle East (US$1 billion operating lease financing via Amedeo Air Four Plus Ltd of two A380 and two B-777-300ER aircraft to Emirates)

London co-head of the Transportation and Space group, partner Nick Swinburne, said, “Milbank’s deal capabilities and industry knowledge across the transportation sectors is unmatched, which is why the firm’s transactions are held up year after year as exemplary by influential publications such as Global Transport Finance.”

Drew Fine, chair of Milbank’s Finance practice and leader of its Transportation and Space group, added, “It’s extremely gratifying to see the depth, breadth, and innovations of our global transport finance practice recognized once again, notably with Global Transport Finance’s Aircraft Finance Law Firm of the Year honours.”