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China's Bohai to buy jet lessor Avolon for $7.6b

Bohai - a subsidiary of HNA Group which operates Hainan Airlines - offers aircraft, ships, engineering equipment and other items for lease.

Chinese leasing company Bohai will buy Irish jet lessor Avolon in a deal which values the company at $7.6 billion, according to a statement, as Beijing pushes its companies to search overseas for future growth.
Bohai Leasing will pay $31 per common share in New York-listed Avolon, a 31 per cent premium to its closing price on July 13, the day before Bohai's interest in a deal was formally announced, Avolon said.
The transaction implies a total enterprise value of $7.6 billion, it said. Its current market capitalisation implies equity of about $2.5 billion at $31 per share, according to figures on its website, which also says it has around $5.1 billion in debt.
"Avolon has delivered remarkable growth over the past five years to become a leading industry franchise with a distinct business model, and the company is a strong complement to our existing investment in the aircraft leasing sector," Bohai CEO Chris Jin said.
"Our vision at Bohai is to build each of our transportation finance businesses into global leaders," he said.
Bohai - a subsidiary of HNA Group which operates Hainan Airlines - offers aircraft, ships, engineering equipment and other items for lease.
It is the second acquisition by HNA Group or its subsidiaries this week, after the parent company announced it had bought an office building at London's Canary Wharf housing the European headquarters for global news agency Thomson Reuters.
It gave no value for the deal, but said it marked its first "major" acquisition in the British capital.
China has encouraged its companies to "go out" and make acquisitions to gain both market access and international experience, while at the same time seeking oil and other raw materials to keep the world's second largest economy moving. The plunging euro has made eurozone assets cheaper for outside buyers.