Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On April 9, 2018, CDB Aviation Lease Finance DAC (CDBALF) — a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. — entered into a Purchase and Leaseback Agreement worth around $592.8 million USD with Portuguese airliner Transportes Aéreos Portugueses (TAP), S.A. Under the agreement, CDBALF agreed to purchase two A330-900neo aircraft from TAP and lease the two aircraft back to TAP upon delivery. The aggregate list price of the aircraft was approximately $592.8 million, USD but there was a "significant price difference" between the list price and the actual purchase price of the aircraft, the actual purchase price being lower (due to confidentiality provisions, the actual purchase price was unknown). As of April 2018, both aircraft were scheduled to be delivered to the airline in the second quarter of 2019.
Staff comments
1. Transportes Aéreos Portugueses, S.A, more commonly known as TAP Air Portugal, is the Portuguese flagship airline. The airline was state-owned from its founding in 1945 until privatization in June 2015, when it began to be controlled by the Atlantic Gateway consortium's majority. In 2016, the new Portuguese government signed an agreement with the consortium, with the Portuguese Government holding 50% of the company, with 45% held by Atlantic Gateway and 5% by the workers of TAP. 2. Sale and leaseback (or sale-leaseback) agreements are generally considered to be off-balance-sheet hybrid debt products.