GECAS-AerCap Deal Is A “Milestone” In GE’s Transformation To A “More Focused, Simpler, And Stronger Company”

Speaking to investors and analysts during the third-quarter earnings call last week, Larry Culp, GE’s chairman and CEO, said that the combination of GE’s aircraft-leasing business, GE Aviation Capital Services, with Ireland’s AerCap was a “tremendous catalyst, enabling us to focus on our industrial core and accelerate our deleveraging plan.”

Today, that catalyst has become reality. GE announced it has concluded the combination of GECAS with AerCap. Under the terms of the transaction agreement, GE received total consideration of greater than $30 billion upon closing, including approximately $23 billion in net cash proceeds; 111.5 million ordinary shares, equivalent to approximately 46% ownership of the combined company, with a market value of approximately $6.6 billion based on the closing share price of $59.04 on October 29, 2021; and $1 billion paid in AerCap senior notes.

“Completing this strategic transaction is a significant milestone in GE’s transformation to a more focused, simpler, stronger high-tech industrial company,” Culp said. “This is a debt story today. The cash proceeds put us in a position to have reduced our debt by approximately $75 billion since the end of 2018, and we gain a meaningful stake in AerCap that we will monetize as the aviation industry recovers. And it is an equity story longer-term, substantially simplifying GE to its industrial core. I’d like to thank AerCap and the exceptional GECAS team for their support in creating the combined company that will better serve customers around the world.”

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