GE Nears Deal to Combine Aircraft-Leasing Unit With AerCap

(Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co. is near a deal to combine its aircraft-leasing business with Ireland’s AerCap Holdings NV, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The deal may be announced as soon as this week, according to the person, who asked not to be identified discussing the matter. The pending transaction was first reported reported by the Wall Street Journal, which said it was expected to have a value of more than $30 billion.

The unit, GE Capital Aviation Services, or GECAS, is an aviation lessor and financier with about 1,650 aircraft. GE has been shedding assets in recent years as part of its turnaround. In 2019, it agreed to sell an aircraft-financing business for $3.6 billion to Apollo Global Management LLC and Athene Holding Ltd. as the ailing manufacturer slims down its once-vast lending arm.

GE representatives declined to comment, and AerCap representatives couldn’t immediately be reached for comment outside regular business hours. AerCap, based in Dublin and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has a market value of $6.6 billion.

GECAS’s chief executive officer, Greg Conlon, said at the Airline Economics conference in January that the company was looking at mergers and acquisitions and portfolio purchases, and that he saw opportunities in cargo aircraft and engine leasing. Aengus Kelly, the chief executive of AerCap, spoke at the same conference and said fewer airline customers were seeking deferrals.

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