Vedder Price represented SKY Aircraft Leasing in connection with the structuring of a sale of a portfolio of up to 21 aircraft to S-JETS 2017-1 Limited, a special purpose company, and the issuance of $780.8 million of notes by S-JETS in an ABS transaction.

S-JETS is expected to use a portion of the proceeds of the notes to acquire up to 21 aircraft. The aircraft are currently on lease to 16 lessees located in 13 countries and have an appraised value of approximately $1 billion. SKY Leasing is the servicer for S-JETS and the portfolio.

“We are proud to have participated in SKY Leasing’s inaugural ABS transaction. Vedder Price’s Global Transportation team brought the right level of depth and experience needed to successfully close this complex and innovative transaction. Our team is an industry leader in the aircraft ABS space, and this transaction further demonstrates our extensive global capabilities in aviation finance and leasing generally,” said Dean Gerber, chair of the Global Transportation Finance team.

Standard & Poor’s and Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) assigned preliminary ratings to three series of notes issued by S-JETS. The $657.8 million Class A notes, with a 66.3% loan-to-value (LTV) ratio, were rated A. The $81 million Class B notes were rated BBB and have an LTV of 74.5%, and the $42 million Class C notes, with an LTV of 78.7%, were rated BB.

“We are delighted to have partnered with SKY Leasing on their first ABS deal,” said Raviv Surpin, Global Transportation Finance shareholder. “We look forward to a growing relationship as they explore further opportunities after this successful debut.”

In addition to Surpin, the Vedder Price team included shareholders Adam Beringer (Global Transportation Finance), Kevin MacLeod (Capital Markets) and Matthew Larvick (Corporate Taxation) and Global Transportation Finance associates Laura Bond, Matthew Gaspari, Amir Heyat, Elizabeth Jiang, Marcelle Lang, Clay Thomas and Hiral Zalavadia.