Asian suitors dominated the second round of bids for CIT Aerospace, sources indicate.
Century Tokyo Leasing, HNA Group, Ping An and Aircastle are among the candidates understood to have formally expressed interest in the lessor in the latest bidding round, say sources.
CIT is due to respond to the offers by early September.
A financier close to the sale indicates that the direction of the sales process will depend on what kind of offers CIT received in the latest round.
“Out of the four remaining parties, if they get a price they like, they might just sell the whole company,” a source says.
The source indicates a range of sale options are under review, beyond a straight portfolio sale, depending on the potential buyer.
Ellen Alemany, the chief executive of officer CIT Group, said on a second-quarter earnings call that the business is "still committed to closing the transaction by year end".
"We will take a variety of factors into making a decision on this transaction including valuation, timing, certainty of execution, funding, and tax implications," she adds.
The company first indicated its intention to sell CIT Aerospace in November 2015.
Airfinance Journal understands that the lessor is using a dual-track process, which means it is conducting an auction for sale at the same time as filing for an initial public offering (IPO).
The dual-track allows a company to take a decision on its exit strategy – whether a sale or a float – late in the process, so CIT’s choice to follow this route suggests that the parent bank is still evaluating how to extract the most value possible from the deal. It allows CIT to hedge its bets by judging the market’s response to its offering before making a decision.
It indicated in February that it planned to sell the lessor as a single legal entity, with all the assets and staff together in one platform. This requires the parent to bring all the different legal structures together into one company with financial statements.
CIT was unavailable for comment at press time.
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