News
Milestone Aviation leases EC-145s to Mexican firm
September 8, 2011 By Carey Fredericks
Sept. 8, 2011, Columbus, Oh. - Milestone Aviation Group announced today the lease to Transportes Aereos Pegaso (Pegaso) of four new Eurocopter EC-145 helicopters.
Pegaso will use the four helicopters to serve its new long-term contract with the Mexican Comision Federal de Electricidad.
The transaction represents Milestone's first with Pegaso and its first acquisition of new Eurocopter helicopters. The announcement coincides with Eurocopter's delivery of the third and fourth machines from its manufacturing facility in Donauworth, Germany.
A customer of Eurocopter for more than 30 years, Pegaso recently won a multi-year services contract with the Mexican Comision Federal de Electricidad for eight new EC-145 helicopters. The announcement today covers the first four helicopter deliveries, with a total list price of more than $28 million.
Richard Santulli, Milestone's Chairman, said, "We are delighted to celebrate our partnership with a first-class operator in Pegaso, as well as our first transaction with Eurocopter, the world's largest civil helicopter manufacturer. Milestone's hallmark is doing business creatively and quickly with high-quality operators around the world. This deal is a textbook example of how we do business, taking only six weeks from initial discussions to closing on the helicopters."
Enrique Zepeda Navarro, Director Ejecutivo of Pegaso, said, "For a business of our size, the smart way to acquire eight new helicopters is a blend of aircraft ownership and leasing to strengthen our return on invested capital and allow us to pursue additional contracts. Fortunately Milestone could act quickly and deliver 100% lease financing on the first four helicopters, which will help us secure superior debt financing terms on the four remaining machines."
Dieter John, Eurocopter's CFO, said, "We are pleased to see this first transaction with Milestone come to fruition and believe this type of financing is becoming more important in the way we do business with our traditional commercial partners and for the development of new opportunities in the future. We are already looking forward to other transactions."
Bill Kelly, Milestone's CEO, said, "The EC-145 is a great aircraft and a valuable addition to Pegaso's fleet and Milestone's portfolio. The deal is our first with Eurocopter and we are excited to start working with this great company. We hope it is the first of many transactions between our two businesses."
