JSM Financial: Australian investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd. buys AIG air fleet below book value.

April 14, 2010 - PRLog -- Federally bailed-out insurer AIG has agreed, JSM Financial sources say, to sell 53 of its passenger jets to Australian investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd to raise around $2 billion in cash for the struggling firm.

According to information from Macquarie 47 of the aircraft purchased from AIG’s International Lease Finance Corp. will go to Macquarie bank Ltd and another six to a partly owned subsidiary, Macquarie AirFinance Ltd, adding that the aircraft, predominantly Boeing 737 Next Generation or Airbus A320 Family aircraft,  are to be leased to 35 airlines in 27 countries.

International Lease Finance Corp (ILFC), a top client of both Boeing and Airbus announced that the aircraft were being sold below their current book value of $2.3 billion.

JSM Financial has learned that the deal comes after AIG failed to sell the entire ILFC business as part of its global asset sale to pay back its $182.5 billion bailout to the U.S. taxpayer.

The deal now elevates Macquarie Group to the top of the second tier of the aircraft leasing industry with a total of 186 planes in their fleet, which investors suggest may cause the firm to look at further expansion to capitalize on the rapidly recovering Asia-Pacific air travel market, JSM financial was told.

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