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DUBAI / WAM
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) reached an agreement to buy Dublin-based AWAS Aviation Capital Ltd. from UK private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners, DAE
announced on Monday. The multi-billion deal will propel DAE, one of the Middle East’s biggest plane-leasing companies, into the top rank of global players in the field.
The deal will swell the DAE portfolio with 263 aircraft that AWAS owns, manages or has on order, boosting the fleet to 394 planes valued at more than US$14 billion, according to a statement by the Dubai-based company. Among the acquired aircraft are 23 due for delivery before the end of 2018. DAE’s MD Khalifa Al Daboos called the deal “strategically compelling,†saying it will establish the firm in the aircraft-leasing top 10.