Asia’s biggest airplane lessor seeks US$1.1b from IPO

Asia’s biggest aircraft lessor is seeking to raise US$1.1b to fund an expansion as the region is poised to become the world’s top air travel market in about two decades. BOC Aviation Ltd., the Singapore-based company that has more than 100 planes leased out to airlines around the world, will sell new and existing shares at HK$42 apiece in a Hong Kong initial public offering. It will become the second Asian plane-leasing company to get listed in the stock markets after China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Ltd. went public in July 2014. Spurred by strong economic growth in the past decade and rising incomes in the world’s two most-populous countries, China and India, Asia is on course to beat the U.S. as the biggest market, according to Airbus Group SE and Boeing Co. That potential has lured billionaires such as Li Ka-shing and budget-carrier pioneer Tony Fernandes to the plane-leasing market, where returns from multiyear contracts can exceed those of airlines. “Asia is the fastest-growing aviation market with demand for pilots, aircraft and leased aircraft,” said Mark Martin, founder of Dubai-based Martin Consulting LLC. “Strategically, it’s a perfect time for BOC to capitalize on what they have already achieved.”<br/>