AviLease, a lessor fully owned by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF), will acquire 13 aircraft from Ireland-based but Chinese-owned leasing firm Avolon, the latter’s parent Bohai Leasing outlined in a Shanghai Stock Exchange filing.

Avolon will divest six A320neo and two A330neo as a direct sale through a number of its special purpose vehicles; two A321ceo through trustee Wells Fargo Trust Co. NA; and one A321neo, one A320ceo, and one B737 MAX by transferring these assets’ income rights and interests.

The May 31 filing said that the market price for the 13 aircraft with leases is about USD730 million and that the actual sale price will be determined through negotiations between the two parties on this basis. The exact aircraft types were not disclosed.

As for the purpose of selling the assets, Bohai Leasing said in the Shanghai disclosure: “This transaction is conducive to [Avolon’s] maintenance of a young fleet size, and it helps to optimise the company’s aircraft asset structure, improve the quality of its fleet assets, and enhance its competitiveness in the global aircraft leasing market. It will also help to improve the company’s 2023 annual performance and have a positive impact on its 2023 annual profit.”

AviLease said in a separate statement that with this acquisition its aircraft portfolio will reach 45 aircraft. Launched in July 2022 as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan to diversify the economy, together with plans to start new national carrier Riyadh Air (RXI, Riyadh), AviLease’s first customer was flynas (XY, Riyadh), and the leasing start-up’s chief executive, Edward O’Byrne, said at the time that given the PIF’s financial involvement, the firm has global ambitions.

So far, AviLease’s dealings have been confined to Saudi Arabia. Most recently, last November, the state-owned lessor signed a sale-and-leaseback deal with Saudia Group covering twenty A320neo jets due to be delivered to the group’s low-cost carrier flyadeal (F3, Jeddah International).

O’Byrne said in the statement on the Avolon deal: “This is a logical strategic next step for us. This transaction demonstrates AviLease’s international expansion and its ability to originate both in the primary and the secondary trading market.”