TORONTO, Sept. 15, 2022 /CNW/ – Porter Aviation Holdings Inc.’s (Porter) wholly-owned subsidiary, Porter Aircraft Leasing Corp., has entered into sale and leaseback and pre-delivery payment (PDP) financing agreements for 12 Embraer E195-E2 aircraft. TrueNoord, and certain funds managed by affiliates of Apollo (NYSE: APO) and serviced by Merx Aviation, are participating in separate transactions for six aircraft each.
Porter has now secured lease agreements with five leasing companies for a total of 26 E195-E2s. These aircraft are part of Porter’s original order for 30 E195-E2s. Aircraft deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2022.
“There is continuing strong interest in the E195-E2 from the leasing community, with TrueNoord and Merx/Apollo being the latest partners to join our strong lessor group,” said Jeffrey Brown, executive vice president and CFO, Porter. “We anticipate being able to complete transactions for the remaining aircraft in our initial order and look forward to them entering service.”
Garry Topp, TrueNoord Sales Director – Americas, explains that Porter operating E2 aircraft in North America is an inspiring collaboration. “Porter is deeply experienced and know their market well, having successfully operated for more than 15 years. They are blending this experience with great enthusiasm, innovation and creativity to build a successful business around the new E195-E2. This aircraft has the potential to be disruptive to the market and Porter understand the opportunity this creates. They are a great customer to work with and we are proud to be supporting their expansion plans in the region.”
Gary Rothschild, CEO of Merx and Head of Aviation Finance at Apollo, said: “We are pleased to partner with Porter as the airline continues to expand its fleet and execute on its growth strategy. We look forward to introducing the Embraer E2 to the Merx/Apollo portfolio, and are excited to announce this transaction as the first Apollo-funded PDP facility to date. This transaction further underscores our ability to act as a dynamic liquidity and capital solutions provider for our airline customers and we look forward to working with the Porter team and building a long-term relationship.”
Porter Airlines is the North American launch customer for the E2. The aircraft will operate from Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax and Toronto Pearson International Airport, to destinations across the continent.
Seabury Securities LLC acted as advisor and placement agent to Porter for these transactions, with Parr Brown Gee & Loveless acting as Porter’s lead legal counsel.About Porter
Porter Airlines provides a warm and effortless approach to hospitality, restoring glamour and refinement to air travel. Porter is an Official 4 Star Airline® in the World Airline Star Rating®.
The airline currently offers flights to Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Fredericton, Moncton, Halifax, St. John’s, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Timmins, Windsor, New York (Newark), Chicago (Midway), Boston and Washington (Dulles), and has seasonal flights to Mt. Tremblant, Que., Muskoka, Ont., and Myrtle Beach, S.C.
More information on Porter, including a downloadable multimedia library, is available at the Media Centre. Details of growth plans to provide North America-wide service are available at flyporter.com.
Visit www.flyporter.com or follow @porterairlines on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.About Apollo
Apollo is a high-growth, global alternative asset manager. In our asset management business, we seek to provide our clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum from investment grade to private equity with a focus on three investing strategies: yield, hybrid, and equity. For more than three decades, our investing expertise across our fully integrated platform has served the financial return needs of our clients and provided businesses with innovative capital solutions for growth. Through Athene, our retirement services business, we specialize in helping clients achieve financial security by providing a suite of retirement savings products and acting as a solutions provider to institutions. Our patient, creative, and knowledgeable approach to investing aligns our clients, businesses we invest in, our employees, and the communities we impact, to expand opportunity and achieve positive outcomes. As of June 30, 2022, Apollo had approximately $515 billion of assets under management. To learn more, please visit www.apollo.com.About Merx
Merx Aviation is a global aircraft leasing, management and finance company based in New York, Dublin and Singapore. For more information, visit www.merxaviation.com.About TrueNoord
TrueNoord is a fast-growing regional aircraft leasing company with offices in Amsterdam, Dublin, London, and Singapore. It is a full-service platform providing leasing and lease management services supported by extensive knowledge of aircraft finance to operators and investors worldwide in the regional aircraft sector. TrueNoord exclusively invests in latest technology turboprops and regional jet aircraft, with a deep understanding of the critical role of regional aircraft in linking remote locations to larger urban areas, providing a feeder service to major hubs, and fulfilling carriers’ lower demand off-peak services in a growing global market.
TrueNoord is supported by cornerstone investors Freshstream, BlackRock, Aberdeen Standard and others. TrueNoord’s fleet of new and young in-production aircraft covers different models in the 50 – 150 seat class, including: Embraer, Airbus, ATR, MHI-RJ, and De Havilland Canada. See www.truenoord.com
SOURCE Porter Airlines
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