Howard Marks’ Oaktree Sells Jackson Square for $1.3B

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According to a statement released by Jackson Square,  a top commercial aircraft lessor,  the company has now become a part of Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Co., Ltd. (TY0:8593).

Howard Marks' Oaktree Sells Jackson Square for $1.3B

“We are excited to join forces with MUL (Mitsubishi UFJ Lease),” said Richard S. Wiley, Jackson Square’s President and CEO. “Having the support of another major international financial services company enables us to continue to provide our airline customers with new capital, to finance their next-generation deliveries.”

Jackson Square is an arm of Oaktree Capital Group LLC (NYSE:OAK), which owns a 90 percent stake in the company. Oaktree Capital Group LLC (NYSE:OAK), debuted on the stock market earlier this year. The group is managed by Howard Marks, who is famous for his investments in distressed debts. Jackson Square began operation in 2010, after Oaktree invested $500 million in it.

The deal bought Jackson Square at the rate of 100 billion JPY, which equals $1.3 billion. The fine points of the deal will be finalized near the end of this year. The actual company that will be acquired by MUFJ Lease is JSA International Holdings LP. Jackson’s fleet is composed of 76 planes, which  include Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS planes. Before the buy-out, MUFJ Lease had a small airplane leasing business, its fleet is now expected to rise above 80.

Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Co., Ltd. (TY0:8593) is an entity of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (ADR) (NYSE:MTU), which is Japan’s largest publicly traded bank.  With the yen gaining strength, up 6 percent against the dollar in the last two years, Japan has become active in buying foreign assets. Previously Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. (TYO:8316) acquired another plane leasing unit that belonged to Royal Bank of Scotland Group  plc (NYSE:RBS) for $7.3 billion. Year to date, a total of  $31.1 billion in foreign acquisitions have been announced so far, according to Bloomberg. As global demand of  air travel rises, the air craft leasing business is gaining more attraction. Companies expect their fleets to increase by 50 percent in the coming years.

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