{"id":113408,"date":"2026-02-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/dae-buys-into-the-mega-lessor-tier-with-usd-7-bn-macquarie-takeover\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T00:00:00","slug":"dae-buys-into-the-mega-lessor-tier-with-usd-7-bn-macquarie-takeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/dae-buys-into-the-mega-lessor-tier-with-usd-7-bn-macquarie-takeover\/","title":{"rendered":"DAE buys into the mega-lessor tier with USD 7 bn Macquarie takeover"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAE seals Mac<\/strong>quarie takeover: <\/strong>Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) \u2014 which is owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai \u2014 inked a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of Dublin-based aircraft leasing company Macquarie AirFinance (MAF)<\/a> in an allcash transaction with an enterprise value of USD 7 bn, it said in a press release<\/a>. The takeover is expected to close in 2H, pending regulatory approvals. <\/p>\n

The state-backed aviation player edged out a handful of rivals in the process: <\/strong>The buyout \u2014 first flagged earlier this month<\/a> \u2014 had reportedly also piqued the interest of Saudi Arabia\u2019s AviLease and Qatar\u2019s Lesha Bank, before DAE came out on top. <\/p>\n

The move will see DAE\u2019s combined fleet swell to over 1k aircraft<\/strong>, up from 678, leased to 191 airlines in 79 countries. Narrowbodies \u2014 currently in high demand due to 11-year backlogs<\/a> at Airbus and Boeing \u2014 make up 70% of those assets. <\/p>\n

Eyeing a credit upgrade: <\/strong>The company, which is rated BBB<\/a> by Fitch, said it will fund the acquisition via a mix of debt and equity to preserve its investment-grade rating while supporting its push for a credit upgrade to lower future borrowing costs.<\/p>\n

ADVISORS-<\/strong> Allen Overy Shearman Sterling and KPMG were financial advisors to DAE.<\/p>\n

About Macquarie: <\/strong>Founded in 2006, MAF is owned by Macquarie Asset Management, PGGM Infrastructure Fund, and Australia\u2019s Retirement Trust. Its portfolio comprises 191 Airbus aircraft (owned and on order) in addition to 134 Boeing jets, according to its website<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n

Our take<\/p>\n

DAE<\/strong> managed to double its franchise in just 18 months through pure-play M&A.<\/strong> The MAF takeover follows its USD 2 bn acquisition<\/a> of Nordic Aviation Capital in May, which alone added 252 assets to DAE\u2019s fleet. <\/p>\n

The allcash transaction is supported by a significant capital build-up. <\/strong>In 2025, DAE secured USD 3.9 bn<\/a> in long-term debt, followed by a USD 600 mn bond<\/a> in January that was 3.3x oversubscribed. <\/p>\n

What could come next:<\/strong> Watch to see if this massive commitment to the leasing book accelerates the rumored sale of its Jordan-based MRO unit Joramco<\/a>, as DAE sharpens its focus on high-margin asset management over labor-intensive engineering.<\/p>\n

(** Tap or click the headline above to read this story<\/strong> with all of the links to our background as well as external sources.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The takeover is expected to close in 2H, pending regulatory approvals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":113409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2392],"tags":[306,815,7,1342,60],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-113408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ma-watch-2","tag-aviation","tag-dubai-aerospace-enterprise","tag-enterpriseam-uae","tag-investment","tag-ma-watch","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"cf19a72d-310b-4735-9a5c-d0b6bfaad4b8","order":"6","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2024\/12\/1822.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"DAE buys into the mega-lessor tier with USD 7 bn Macquarie takeover","related_issue":[113398],"teaser":"The takeover is expected to close in 2H, pending regulatory approvals"},"yoast_head":"\nDAE buys into the mega-lessor tier with USD 7 bn Macquarie takeover - 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