The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) is investing €50m into a Dublin based aircraft lessor owned by of Barings.
The €8.9bn sovereign development fund said it has commitment to Genesis Aircraft Services to help the aircraft lessor expand its fleet and related operations in Ireland.
Genesis was established in 2014 by Barings and currently has a combined portfolio of 88 owned, managed and committed predominantly narrow body Boeing and Airbus aircraft.
Since 2014, Genesis has been providing financial and accounting services for Barings’ aircraft investments. During 2017, Barings expanded Genesis’ mandate to grow into a full-service leasing company.
Eugene O’Callaghan, Director of ISIF, said: “Ireland has an established reputation as a major global centre for aviation finance and ISIF’s investment is consistent with our double bottom line mandate of generating a commercial return and supporting economic activity and employment in Ireland.
“Our investment will support Genesis in its plans to scale its operations substantially and, by managing the targeted fleet of narrowbody aircraft from Ireland, Genesis is expected to create significant opportunities for maintenance, repairs and overhaul service providers throughout Ireland”.
Cian Mackey, COO/CFO of Genesis, said: “We are delighted to have ISIF as an early stage investor as we continue to expand our business. ISIF’s investment provides a rich vein of commitment & capital as we organically grow Genesis into a world-class, full life cycle aircraft leasing platform that will benefit from being nestled within Ireland’s aviation ecosystem.”
Jon Rotolo, the head of Barings’ alternative investments’ private equity and real assets team, said: “Given strong fundamentals and secular growth in travel, we are excited to see the expansion of our commercial aircraft business with the investment of ISIF in Genesis.
“Our strategy has been to acquire and actively manage a targeted fleet of aircraft and this investment demonstrates the confidence we have in Genesis is shared by ISIF.”
