Press Release
Press Release
Press Contacts: Erik Cummins, Matt Hyams, Olivia Thomas
07.01.20
The first of six de Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 aircraft has now arrived in Luanda, marking what is understood to be the first new aircraft type delivered by any commercial aircraft manufacturer to a new customer during the COVID-19 pandemic. The acquisition is supported by a $118 million sovereign guarantee issued by the Government of Angola.
In serving as lead transaction counsel on both the PDP and long-term financing transactions, Pillsbury represented ABSA Bank Limited (as lead arranger and lender for both transactions) and African Export-Import Bank (as joint mandated lead arranger and lender for the long term financing). The Pillsbury team included Paul Jebely (partner and co-chair of asset finance) with the support of Eugene Yeung (Finance Counsel, Hong Kong) and others. Offshore counsel to the lenders was Walkers, led by former Pillsbury counsel and now Walkers Senior Counsel, Sarah Humpleby. Teams from Norton Rose Fulbright represented TAAG Angola and the Government of Angola.
Commenting on the transaction, Paul Jebely notes: “If it were easy, everyone would do it. It took a special group of airline professionals, government representatives, bankers, lawyers and an OEM like de Havilland Canada to coalesce and get this deal closed and to get the first of six beautiful Canadian-built aircraft delivered, during a global pandemic no less. The versatile and capable ABSA team is one to watch for out of South Africa, and Afrexim of course continues to be a center of excellence in African finance.”
Pillsbury’s global Finance section leader Mark Lessard echoed the firm’s commitment to African air finance. “Pillsbury has acted for banks, airlines and lessors across this diverse continent for decades, and we will continue to invest in developing relationships and transaction structures that are suited to local needs.”
Voted the “Aviation Law Firm of the Year” in January 2020 at the prestigious Airline Economics Aviation 100 Global Awards, Pillsbury’s global asset finance practice continues to cement its decades long excellent reputation in the aviation sector. Of note, Pillsbury has also consistently ranked over years as the most or second most active firm in African aviation in the annual Airfinance Journal Global Legal Survey. Paul Jebely also received the African Aviation award for “Outstanding Contribution to African Aviation Development” in 2015 and he and the rest of the Hong Kong team led the firm to be named by American Lawyer Media as the “Aviation Firm of the Year – Asia” in 2018.