Gallagher wins top aircraft leasing account from Willis as disposals deal sealed

AerCap is the largest account of its kind and has a portfolio of 1,036 aircraft in its fleet, servicing 200 airlines across 80 countries.

The company is also in the process of buying fellow aircraft and leasing business Gecas for around $30bn. Gecas – which is the air finance business of General Electric – owns, services or has on order around 1,600 aircraft, according to its website.

The new entity would have a combined fleet of over 2,000 aircraft, making it a behemoth in the aircraft market. Gecas is currently understood to be a Marsh Specialty client. It is not yet known how the proposed merger will impact insurance arrangements. 

The account move follows confirmation today that Gallagher had struck a $3.6bn deal with Aon and Willis on a portfolio of remedy assets to satisfy European Commission antitrust concerns. The package comprises the Willis Inspace corporate risk and broking unit and certain aerospace manufacturers’ operations, alongside various assets including Willis Re and insurance broking operations in four Continental European countries.

This publication posited in April that Gallagher would be the most likely candidate for the aerospace manufacturing and space assets as it was already an established player in the space. Sources told this publication at the time that there were around 50 people in the Willis unit. Willis is still a dominant player in the aviation and aerospace market, holding over half of the top 10 accounts, but the purchase is a massive coup for Gallagher.

There have been a number of account moves in the aerospace market over the past few months as broking competition intensifies. This publication reported in April that Willis, McGill and Partners and Piiq Risk Partners were competing in an Airbus tender, the largest manufacturers' account in the aviation market.

Furthermore, at least 11 airline accounts were understood to have moved in October, including Israeli and Indonesian flag carriers El Al and Garuda Indonesia. The former account moved from Willis to McGill and Partners and the latter from Willis to merger partner Aon. In March, this publication reported that Howden had won Bolivia’s flag carrier airline, Boliviana de Aviación, from AJ Gallagher.

Gallagher and Willis Towers Watson declined to comment. AerCap did not respond to a request for comment.

Source: Insurance Insider

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtKl4yUZhxT5v253s_KzLRCn5u2Od4JfLGhMhEZ-7rpce1IQ/viewform?usp=sf_link