Thaine in £2.7bn deal

Colin Thaine is leading a team at Wilde Sapte advising Halifax on the US$4.3bn (£2.7bn) financing of 75 Airbus aircraft for US aircraft operating lessor International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC).

Finance for the project comes from French lead manager Societe Generale, German lead managers Commerzbank and Hypo Vereinsbank and parallel lender KFW. Of the final price, 85 per cent was supported by English, French and German export credit agencies.

The finance deal is not only the biggest in the sector, but also the largest export credit agency-backed facility seen yet in the market. Thaine comments on the deal: "This standby export credit facility is well tailored to ILFC's operating profile with its customers, providing a flexible and uncluttered form of financing to ILFC."