GECAS moves into helicopter leasing with Milestone acquisition

GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), the US and Irish commercial aircraft financing and leasing business of GE, has bought Dublin-based Milestone Aviation Group for $1.775 billion, marking its first move into helicopter leasing.

“The Milestone acquisition is a great fit for GE – it combines GECAS’ global reach and 45-plus years in leasing commercial jets with a fast-growing helicopter financing platform that will diversify our business and put our capital to work at good returns,” said Keith Sherin, chairman & CEO, GE Capital.

“The addition of Milestone will deepen our domain expertise in aviation and oil and gas, two critical GE industries,” Sherin added.

In the four years since it was set up by aviation and leasing industry veteran Richard T. Santulli and other members of the former NetJets executive management team, Milestone has become a leading helicopter leasing company.

Its current fleet includes 168 helicopters worth $2.8 billion as well as a strong forward order and option book of $3 billion with a variety of helicopter manufacturers. The helicopters in Milestone’s fleet are primarily used in offshore oil and gas, search and rescue, emergency medical services and mining, as well as other industries, and are currently leased to 31 operators in 25 countries.

“In joining GE Capital, Milestone will continue to operate as we always have – committed to our customers and partners, nimble and entrepreneurial – only with an enhanced ability to offer innovative product solutions in a variety of markets around the globe,” said Richard T. Santulli, chairman and CEO, Milestone Aviation Group.”

Santulli will serve as chairman of the helicopter leasing business and will become an officer of GE. Milestone president Daniel Rosenthal will serve as president of the business, which will continue to operate as “Milestone Aviation Group.” Fellow Milestone co-founding executives John Burns, Robert Thor Dranitzke and Matthew Harris will continue in their current roles, as will the rest of the Milestone team.

The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is targeted to close in 2015. The acquisition is in line with GE Capital’s strategic plan of focusing on core areas including energy, aviation, oil & gas and healthcare, while reducing the overall size of GE Capital through the disposition of non-strategic assets such as the recently executed IPO and planned split-off of the North American Retail Finance business and the sale of its consumer banks in the Nordics.