By BT - July 3, 2017 @ 1:18pm
KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes’s Twitter post late last week has fuelled speculation that the airline has finalised the sale of its aircraft leasing unit worth US$1.2 billion (RM5.2 billion).
The final bids for Asia Aviation Capital Ltd (AAC) closed on March 27 without any announcement made by AirAsia Group, although some analysts said the sale could be firmed up by the third quarter of the year.
Fernandes on Friday hinted that a party from South Korea would be AAC’s new owner. And market talk about Korea Transportation Asset Management (Kotam) being the successful bidder could be true after all.
“Great meeting with @KEBHana. Good guys. First time I ever met a Korean bank. New beginning for AirAsia as we risen (sic) our horizons,” Fernandes tweeted.
Seoul-based KEB Hana Bank is a merger between Hana Bank and Korea Exchange Bank, which took place in September 2015. It is owned by the Hana Financial Group.
Reuters recently reported that privately-owned Kotam would acquire AAC.
Should the deal materialise, it would pave the way for South Korea to enter the US$256 billion global aircraft leasing business.
At the same time, it was reported that AAC had also gained the interest of several China-based companies.
“Kotam is tapping KEB Hana Bank in its AAC bid,” said an analyst.
The analyst said KEB Hana Bank had previously underwritten millions of dollar of financing for some aircraft lessors.
Citing an instance, the analyst said the bank was part of a consortium of South Korean banks underwriting China Aircraft Leasing Group’s first aircraft, which was subsequently delivered to Air Macau in late 2015.
KEB Hana Bank has 134 branches in 24 countries in Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Asia Pacific.
AirAsia’s share price had risen 2.2 per cent since the news of Kotam’s interest in AAC was reported on March 24.
The stock closed 0.31 per cent higher to RM3.25 on Bursa Malaysia on Friday.
https://www.nst.com.my/business/2017/07/254165/s-korean-company-winner-race-airasias-leasing-unit
