A&O Shearman has advised Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) on its acquisition of Macquarie AirFinance, a transaction with an enterprise value of approximately USD 9 billion.
The deal significantly expands DAE’s position in global aircraft leasing, giving the Dubai-headquartered aviation services group a combined fleet of roughly 1,000 owned, managed and committed aircraft, leased to more than 175 airlines across over 75 countries. DAE also holds commitments to acquire around 150 additional aircraft from manufacturers including Boeing, Airbus and ATR, alongside trading counterparties.
The A&O Shearman team was led by partners Paul Nelson and Hugh Robinson, supported by associates Paul McKay, Sheryl Tan and Gurveena Hare. Tax advice came from counsel Gareth Banfield and associate James Eggleston, while antitrust matters were handled by partner Pieter Huizing with senior associates Pauline van Sande and Bernadette van der Blij, drawing on colleagues across the firm’s international network. DAE Chief Executive Firoz Tarapore credited the firm’s team for their “strong client focus, commercial awareness and industry expertise.”
For solicitors and partners advising in aviation finance, the transaction underscores how consolidation in aircraft leasing continues to demand cross-practice capability spanning M&A, tax structuring, antitrust clearance and cross-border regulatory coordination. In-house counsel at airlines, lessors and financial institutions with exposure to leased fleets will need to track how ownership consolidation among major lessors affects lease renegotiation, credit risk allocation and portfolio diversification when a single counterparty’s fleet expands by this scale.
Law firm management teams competing for aviation and asset-finance mandates will see this as a marker of how much cross-practice resourcing a deal of this size demands, spanning corporate, tax and antitrust work under one mandate.
Barristers advising on any resulting regulatory or competition scrutiny, particularly where fleet concentration raises questions in specific leasing markets, may find this transaction referenced as a benchmark for enterprise valuation and deal structure in future aviation finance matters.
As aircraft leasing consolidation continues, firms advising lessors, airlines and financiers should expect an increase in complex, multi-jurisdictional mandates requiring coordinated tax, antitrust and financing expertise, with transactions of this size likely to shape how legal teams staff and price aviation finance work over the coming year.