Investec arranged a sale and leaseback for the 100th Emirates' A380 which the Dubai-based airline received last Friday.

Emirates ordered its first A380 17 years ago and is currently the world’s largest operator of the Airbus A380.

While Investec acted as the sole arranger for both the financing and leasing, other lenders in this deal have included Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Agricultural Bank of China (Dubai), First Abu Dhabi Bank and Shinhan Bank (Dubai).

Nirmal Govindadas, Senior Vice President Corporate Treasury for Emirates said: “Emirates’ clear long-term financing strategy combined with innovative funding opportunities such as those provided by Investec have enabled us to grow our fleet of wide-bodied aircraft in the past two decades. The A380 has been, and continues to be hugely popular amongst our customers, many of whom deliberately plan their travel so that they can fly on it.”

Alok Wadhawan, Head of Investec Aviation Finance commented: “Investec has an established working relationship with Emirates and has arranged over US$2bln of financing over the past few years. Our deep sector knowledge has enabled us to provide bespoke financing solutions to airlines and lessors while providing attractive investment opportunities to institutional investors. Contributing to the financing of Emirates 100th A380 is an honour for us and we look forward to supporting Emirates’ growth in the future.”

Investec is an active lender and lessor in the aviation market with a balance sheet available to a global client base. Investec Aviation Finance has c. US$5bn of aircraft assets under management through its own balance sheet and managed funds.