Commercial aircraft leasing company Avation Commercial is in talks to sell off six of its ATR 72 planes.

Avation said the sale – which is expected to go through before the end of June – will raise $31 million in net proceeds for the group.

Importantly for shareholders, the transaction, assuming it goes ahead as planned, is at a price above the company book value.

Avation said the potential buyer has also paid a $3 million deposit, although this is refundable if the deal doesn’t complete for some reason.

Last October, Avation told investors it had received an expression of interest in its 22-strong ATR 72 portfolio, with seven more offers from different buyers coming in soon after. It went away and considered what would be the best move for the company going forward and decided that selling a smaller portion of the portfolio made most sense.

“This was an extremely positive process for the company, eight existing and new lessors were interested in part or all of the ATR portfolio,” said Jeff Chatfield, executive chairman.