London Asset Finance Associate Chris Knight Named a 2019 Rising Star by Airfinance Journal

Knight’s practice focuses on counseling funds, banks, lessors, airlines and export credit agencies on a wide range of high-value, cross-border aircraft and engine finance transactions. In AFJ’s profile, he is hailed as a “talented and ambitious lawyer who plays an essential role in some of the most complex transactions” Pillsbury’s Asset Finance team handles. AFJ reports Knight is consistently praised by clients and peers for his technical skills, strong industry knowledge and client service, and the profile highlights his six-month secondment at Emirates Airline in Dubai, where he worked across disciplines advising on multiple aircraft deliveries and other matters.

AFJ also notes several of Knight’s recent deals, which include among others, acting for major financial institutions in Japan and Bahrain on secured financing for a large Middle Eastern operator’s purchase of several 737-900 aircraft. Knight also advised Oaktree and Worldstar Aviation on a 21-portfolio ABS-backed aircraft purchase from Investec, a transaction that was named Overall Debt Deal of the Year by Airline Economics in 2018.

Pillsbury’s global Asset Finance team serves as a trusted adviser to the most established names in aviation as well as emerging players around the world, including manufacturers, airlines, lessors, financial institutions, corporations, individuals and other investors. Over the past five years, the group has helped a diverse range of market participants get or keep more than 1,600 commercial and business aircraft flying, reflecting an aggregate asset value of more than $75 billion.