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This excerpt taken from the AYR 8-K filed Sep 26, 2007. Acquisitions We source our acquisitions through well-established relationships with airlines, other aircraft lessors, financial institutions and brokers, as well as other sources. We have acquired one aircraft from Drawbridge Special Opportunities Fund LP, a fund managed by an affiliate of Fortress, but have not acquired or committed to acquire any other aircraft from our affiliates. We are currently focused on acquiring high-utility aircraft in the secondary market and through sale-leasebacks. While we do not focus on aircraft of a particular age, we acquired most of our aircraft assets five to fifteen years from original manufacture. We believe that sourcing acquisitions both globally and through multiple channels provides for a broad and relatively consistent set of investment opportunities. On January 22, 2007, we entered into the Acquisition Agreement with affiliates of GAIF, pursuant to which we agreed to acquire 38 aircraft for an aggregate base purchase price of approximately $1.595 billion,
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subject to certain agreed adjustments. The aircraft we will acquire under the Acquisition Agreement are scheduled to be delivered to us through February 2009, with 28 of these aircraft scheduled for delivery in 2007. As of March 15, 2007 we acquired five of these aircraft. Four of the aircraft are Boeing Model 747-400ERF freighter aircraft to be delivered new from the manufacturer, seven are Boeing Model 747-400 aircraft converted or to be converted from passenger to freighter specification and one is a McDonnell Douglas Model MD11SF. The remaining 26 aircraft are passenger aircraft. We have an experienced acquisitions team based in Stamford, Connecticut, Dublin, Ireland and Singapore that maintains strong relationships with a wide variety of market participants throughout the world. We believe that our seasoned personnel and extensive industry contacts facilitate our access to acquisition opportunities. Potential investments are evaluated by teams consisting of marketing, engineering/technical, credit, financial analytic and legal professionals. These teams consider a variety of aspects before we commit to purchase an aircraft, including its price, specification/configuration, age, condition and maintenance history, operating efficiency, lease terms, financial condition and liquidity of the lessee, jurisdiction, industry trends and future redeployment potential and values, among other factors. We believe that utilizing a cross-functional team of experts to consider the investment parameters noted above will help assess more completely the overall risk and return profile of potential acquisitions and will help us move forward expeditiously on letters of intent and acquisition documentation. Our letters of intent are typically non-binding prior to board of directors’ approval, and upon board of directors approval are binding and subject to the fulfillment of customary closing conditions. Our aim is to develop and maintain a diverse and stable portfolio and, in that regard, our investment strategy is oriented towards longer term holding horizons rather than shorter-term trading. |
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