KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia, Malaysia’s flagship budget airline, said on Thursday it has agreed to sell its aircraft leasing operations for $1.2 billion to firms managed by BBAM Limited Partnership.
The sale is part of AirAsia’s efforts to sell non-core assets and will allow it to cut debt while ridding itself of the financial commitment of owning aircraft.
The sale raises approximately $902 million of cash proceeds and gives AirAsia’s unit, Asia Aviation Capital Ltd, an enterprise value of $2.85 billion.
Fly Leasing, Incline B Aviation Partnership and Nomura Babcock and Brown will acquire a portfolio of 84 aircraft and 14 engines of which 79 aircraft and 14 engines will be leased back to AirAsia and its affiliates.
As part of the deal, AirAsia will also take a 10.2 percent stake in Fly, valued at $50 million.
AirAsia is expected to recognize a gain of approximately 967.1 million ringgits ($246 million) as a result of the leasing unit sale, AirAsia said in a statement.
AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said the deal was in line with the group’s strategy of disposing non-core assets and businesses, to focus on digital businesses.
“We have now disposed of most of our physical non-core assets and we are thrilled to be embarking on our new digital strategy which will build a very valuable group of assets,” he said.
AirAsia has sold its training center as well as a ground handling unit in the last six months.
AirAsia halted trading for the first half session on Thursday.
Malaysia’s AirAsia sells aircraft portfolio for $1.2 billion
Malaysia’s AirAsia sells aircraft portfolio for $1.2 billion
Real Estate Registry signs 10 agreements at forum in Riyadh
RIYADH: The Real Estate Registry concluded its participation in the Real Estate Future 2026, as a partner of the forum, with a distinguished presence that included the launch of its business portal, the signing of 10 agreements and memoranda of understanding with entities from the public and private sectors, the organization of specialized workshops, and the awarding of the Gold Award at the Real Estate Excellence Awards.
During his participation in the forum, the CEO of the firm, Mohammed Al-Sulaiman, reviewed the latest developments in real estate registration in the Kingdom in a keynote speech, highlighting the pivotal role of the Real Estate Registry in building a unified and reliable system for data. He also announced the launch of the national blockchain infrastructure, which aims to enable the microcoding of real estate assets, enhance transparency, expand investment opportunities, and support innovative ownership models within a reliable regulatory framework.
On the sidelines of the forum, Al-Sulaiman met with Nigeria’s Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa. During the meeting, they discussed areas of joint cooperation, exchanged experiences and advice on shaping the future of the real estate sector, and reviewed best practices in implementing real estate registration systems that enhance reliability and improve the efficiency of property registration.
efficiency of property registration systems.
The Real Estate Registry’s participation included organizing three specialized workshops that focused on the role of geospatial technologies in identifying ownership, enhancing transparency, and improving the quality of real estate data.
The workshop “Empowering the Real Estate Registry for the Business Sector” reviewed digital solutions that enable the business sector to manage its real estate assets more efficiently and enhance governance and technical integration. The workshop “From Off-Plan Sales to Title Deed” focused on the journey of documenting real estate ownership and the role of the registry in linking the stages of development and documentation within an integrated digital system.
On the sidelines of the forum, the Real Estate Registry signed 10 agreements and memorandums of understanding, including a deal with Yasmina Information Technology Co. to utilize real estate data in developing smarter insurance solutions that support the real estate sector and enhance service reliability.
Partnerships were also signed with Haseel, NewTech, and Sahl, as well as HissaTech and Droub, to develop innovative digital solutions in property ownership, fractional ownership, and asset tokenization, as well as real estate finance and investment within a trusted regulatory framework.
Further collaborations included an MoU with ROSHN Group, an agreement with the Saudi Water Authority to enable data integration and quality enhancement, an agreement with the Saudi National Bank, and a partnership with Saudi Post to link the national address with the property registry as a unified geospatial identifier supporting data accuracy and integration.
The registry’s participation was crowned with the Golden Award at the Real Estate Excellence Awards in the category of Excellence in Property Documentation, in recognition of its role in building a model based on transparency, accuracy, and speed, as well as advanced digital technologies and specialized legal expertise, contributing to rights protection and increasing the sector’s attractiveness.
The Real Estate Registry emphasized that its participation reflects its continued role as a key enabler of the real estate sector, a trusted data source, and an active partner in driving digital transformation, enhancing market efficiency, and building investor and financier confidence, in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 objectives for a fully integrated and sustainable digital real estate ecosystem.
