PK Airfinance and Apollo affiliates to Acquire $920 Million Portfolio of Secured Aviation Loans from Standard Chartered

PK Airfinance, a leading aviation lending platform backed by Apollo (NYSE:APO), has agreed to acquire the majority of an approximately $920 million portfolio of secured aviation loans from Standard Chartered, with Apollo affiliates agreeing to purchase the balance of the portfolio. The sale and transfer of the loans is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close year-end 2023.

“We are pleased to announce this transaction with Standard Chartered and to add significant scale and airline reach to our aviation finance businesses,” said Gary Rothschild, Partner and Head of Aviation Finance at Apollo. “This transaction is another example of our ability to provide large, bespoke capital solutions to a broad range of market participants across the global aviation industry.”

Rothschild continued, “As a prominent player in the aviation finance sector across both lending and leasing, Apollo remains committed to supporting the success of its clients across the industry. We continue to believe that there is significant value in pairing our integrated aviation finance platform’s structuring expertise and flexible capital with deep technical knowledge and direct airline origination capabilities.”

Mizuho Americas served as Lead Arranger and Advisor for the transaction, while Redding Ridge Asset Management served as Structuring Agent and Milbank LLP served as Lead Counsel.

Apollo’s aviation business, including the PK Airfinance platform, serves as a go-to lender in the industry with over $40 billion of commitments to-date and current loan portfolio of $4 billion, in an asset class that has shown resilient historical performance throughout market cycles. Apollo and PK have built extensive relationships across the industry and serve more than 80 borrowers across 40-plus countries.