DAE and Neuberger Announce New Aircraft Leasing Vehicle

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) and Neuberger Specialty Finance have partnered to launch Mustang Aerospace, a new aircraft leasing co-investment platform targeting approximately US$6 billion in aircraft investments over the medium term.

The platform will acquire and lease a diversified portfolio of commercial aircraft to airlines worldwide, combining DAE’s aircraft leasing and asset management expertise with Neuberger Specialty Finance’s asset-based investment capabilities. The companies said Mustang will invest steadily over time through multiple investment vehicles to build a large-scale global leasing platform.

DAE will manage the aircraft assets through its established leasing and Aircraft Investor Services (AIS) platform, which currently oversees a fleet of approximately 700 aircraft, including more than 100 managed on behalf of third-party investors.

Commenting on the announcement, Firoz Tarapore, Chief Executive Officer of DAE, said, “Sean Hinze led our original co-investor relationship dating back to 2017; collaborating with him at Neuberger will allow us to expand our offering at greater scale to our airline customers around the world and support our ambition to continue growing our AIS offering. We look forward to deploying our industry-leading franchise in search of opportunistic investments on behalf of Neuberger Specialty Finance and the funds it manages.”

Sean Hinze, Managing Director at Neuberger Specialty Finance, added, “Launching Mustang with DAE is an exciting opportunity to reignite our partnership and expand it into a scaled, durable franchise within Neuberger’s Asset Based Finance platform. We’re thrilled to combine DAE’s world class aircraft management capabilities with our flexible capital and structuring expertise to build a long term leasing franchise that can serve airline customers globally.”

To support the platform’s growth, Mustang has also secured committed warehouse financing from Goldman Sachs, Mizuho, BNP Paribas, MUFG, Société Générale and Truist.