Stellwagen and Acasta Enterprises entered into definitive agreements by which Acasta would acquire Stellwagen for approximately $270 million plus future consideration contingent on the operating performance of Stellwagen over the next three to five years.

Acasta also will commit to investing $100 million into Stellwagen Capital’s senior loan company or another strategic investment. These agreements are subject to certain conditions, including regulatory approval and approval by Acasta’s shareholders.

Headquartered in Dublin, Stellwagen provides asset management along with financial and technology solutions to the global aviation industry. It is positioned to leverage financial engineering and technology to modernize aircraft lending and leasing. The acquisition by Acasta will drive growth of the existing businesses and new asset management and technology businesses.

“Aircraft asset management and financing is an extremely attractive industry, with strong returns and much less volatility than the airline sector as a whole. The newly launched technology business also gives us a high level of confidence that the Stellwagen team can deliver, and is validated by the traction they have already received in the market,” said Michael Neal, an Acasta founder and advisor, and current member of JPMorgan’s board of directors.

As the former CEO of GE Capital, Neal oversaw GE Capital Aviation Services’ $46 billion commercial aircraft and financing business unit.

Acasta is a special purpose acquisition corporation which raised $402.5 million in an initial public offering in July 2015, with the purpose of effecting a qualifying acquisition. With the approval of the acquisition of Stellwagen, concurrent with other transactions, Acasta will become a private equity manager fund and will launch a private equity fund to pursue further market opportunities.

“I am pleased to have such a strong capital partner. We plan to have $5 billion in assets under management within three years, and believe that Acasta is the right partner to enable us to deliver these targets,” said Howard Millar, Stellwagen Capital’s CEO. “Stellwagen is launching a series of aircraft related investment vehicles, the first of which is a senior secured aircraft loan company designed to meet the increasing demand caused by the retreat of the aviation banks.”