AerCap Holdings N.V. acquires GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS)

AerCap Holdings N.V. acquired GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) for 111.5 million newly issued AerCap shares, $23 billion in cash and $1 billion of AerCap senior notes; GE held approximately 46% of AerCap's ordinary shares immediately after closing (AerCap has described the financing of the transaction as approximately $30.5 billion raised), a transaction completed in November 2021, structured as Business combination financed with a combination of stock and cash: 111.5 million newly issued AerCap ordinary shares, $23 billion of cash and $1 billion of AerCap senior notes.

GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) operates in Aircraft, engine and helicopter leasing. AerCap acquired the GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) business, the aircraft leasing and financing arm of General Electric, on November 1, 2021. The transaction combined the two largest aircraft lessors and made AerCap the worldwide industry leader across aircraft, engines and helicopters. Under the transaction agreement GE received 111.5 million newly issued AerCap shares, $23 billion of cash and $1 billion of AerCap senior notes, and immediately following completion GE held approximately 46% of AerCap's issued and outstanding ordinary shares, becoming a related party with the right to appoint one member to AerCap's Board (bringing the Board to ten directors). The GECAS acquisition brought AerCap into engine leasing at scale, the Milestone helicopter leasing business and the AerCap Materials parts-distribution business.

AerCap's 20-F describes the ILFC and GECAS transactions as the two largest transactions in the history of aviation leasing and cites its ability to identify, acquire and integrate companies as a key competitive advantage. The GECAS deal gave AerCap unmatched scale and a full-spectrum leasing platform (aircraft, engines and helicopters) as air travel recovered from the pandemic.

Advisory firms were not disclosed for this transaction.