Transportation Finance

Pillsbury's Transportation Finance practice team is a leader in the field of structuring, negotiating and closing transactions for transportation assets, with particular emphasis on aircraft and other aviation equipment. For more than 60 years we have been representing some of the most active international participants in the financing of transportation assets, including major banks, leasing companies, airlines, investors, traders and manufacturers. Since 2000, Pillsbury’s attorneys have assisted clients in financing over 600 aircraft (valued at more than $26 billion) and more than 130 aircraft engines (valued at more than $700 million). We have had important roles in all of the U.S., and many foreign, airline bankruptcies and restructurings and work closely with lawyers in our restructuring group on these matters. Our team also has significant experience with railroad rolling stock, locomotives, ships, containers and fleets of land-based vehicles, as well as other capital assets financed with similar techniques, such as floating drilling rigs, satellites, telecommunications and manufacturing equipment. In recent years we have successfully negotiated and documented Ex-Im Bank-supported financings for equipment valued at more than $4 billion. We have also dealt with other export credit agencies and government-supported programs, such as Japan Eximbank, ECGD, COFACE and HERMES.

Pillsbury's Transportation Finance team includes attorneys in our New York, London, California and Washington offices who are supported by leading practitioners in related fields such as taxation, aviation regulatory, restructuring, capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, international trade and licensing, corporate aviation, insurance, accident investigations and litigation. Our team has extensive experience with cross-border financings of transportation assets located and operated throughout the world and often handles large scale transactions involving multiple jurisdictions. Our offices and network of local law firms stand ready to assist our clients any place, any time. This broad-based, integrated approach allows us to offer a full range of legal services to all industry participants.

Our Transportation Finance attorneys are well-known in the industry for their contributions to the state of the art, whether it is completing novel transactions, publishing articles on new financing techniques, sitting on standard-setting committees or speaking at some of the many conferences, seminars, workshops and other events organized for the transportation finance community. These contributions are consistently recognized by industry observers, including the prestigious Chambers, which has named us one of the leading aviation finance firms in the world. We have also recently received awards and accolades for our legal work from Jane’s Transport Finance, AirFinance Journal, Global Trade Review and Trade Finance. Pillsbury was also honored to be named “Aviation Law Firm of the Year” in 2008 by ACQ Finance magazine.

Our team focuses primarily on the following activities:

Finance and Leasing

• Secured credit facilities for lenders and airlines
• Operating leases, both domestic and cross-border, for lessors and airlines
• Export credit financings for guaranteed lenders, tax investors and airlines
• Pre-delivery payment financings for lenders and airlines

Asset Acquisitions and Dispositions

• Aircraft and engine purchase agreements and related commercial contracts
• Commercial and corporate aircraft trading
• Acquisitions and dispositions of large equipment loan and lease portfolios
• Negotiating settlements for aircraft delivery delays
• Aerospace technology transfers and joint ventures
• Private equity investments in the aerospace sector

Structured Finance

• Pooled asset securitizations for issuers, underwriters and lenders
• Intercreditor arrangements for senior, subordinated and equity participants
• Leveraged and tax leases, including cross-border, synthetic and foreign currency leases
• Credit-enhanced offerings, including liquidity facilities for EETCs and other structures
• Secondary transactions, such as debt repackaging, receivables financings and risk-sharing programs

Restructurings and Enforcement

• Restructuring debt and lease obligations for troubled airlines
• Airline bankruptcy proceedings
• Conducting foreclosures on collateral by public auction or private sale
• Repossession of property in multiple jurisdictions
• Managing and remarketing assets in conjunction with technical, insurance and appraisal professionals

Because of our six decades of experience, Pillsbury's team is one of the few with extensive practical knowledge of the issues involved in transportation asset finance. Our long standing representations of international financial institutions, leading aerospace companies and U.S. and foreign airlines has given us a wealth of “nuts and bolts” experience that enables us to help clients focus on the important issues that affect the ultimate success of their transactions. We seek to provide clients thoughtful, practical advice that adds value to complex domestic and cross-border transactions.