DUBLIN, 9 March 2016 – The Board of Directors of Aviation Finance Company Limited today announced that Marc Bourgade will become the firm’s Chief Executive Officer, effective March 15, 2016, while Founder and CEO Douglas Brennan will continue to serve as Chairman and CEO of the Stellwagen Group of Companies, the parent of AFC. The company remains based in Dublin. Mr. Bourgade also will join the company’s Group Executive Committee.

Eugene O’Reilly, a director of the AFC Board, said, "Over the past three years, under the expert leadership of Douglas Brennan, we have built operations in Ireland and across the globe in the face of a highly competitive market. AFC has invested and arranged over $5 billion of debt for our industry by developing innovative products that have helped reshape how we organize and deploy capital in the aviation market.”

Mr. O’Reilly continued, "Doug and the management teams of AFC and Seraph have been working closely to ensure a seamless succession process. We are delighted that Marc Bourgade will take the mantle as CEO as we continue to build our premier franchises in investment banking as well as aircraft sales and trading, grow market share and deliver value for our clients, business partners and shareholders.”

Mr. Brennan said, "In Marc Bourgade, we found an outstanding leader for AFC with a proven track record of building outstanding teams, executing winning strategies and growing profitable businesses. Succession has been a top priority for me since I started the business, and I am confident that Marc and Eugene are the right leaders to propel us forward into a mature enterprise. I am excited about this next phase of growth for AFC.”

During the past two decades, Bourgade has worked in virtually every aspect of banking, particularly in the field of aviation financial services. He joins AFC from Natixis where he served as Head of Sectors & Clients for Aviation, Exports and Infrastructure and was one of the key architects of Natixis Aviation. Bourgade completed over $15 billion of transactions and has won over 20 awards, including Aviation House of the Year and other recognitions for his innovation. Prior to that, Bourgade served as Managing Director of Aircraft Finance and acted as Chief Financial Officer of Natixis Transport Finance Bank. Bourgade began his career as a bank auditor.

Marc Bourgade graduated as a civil engineer from the ESTP (French Grande Ecole) in 1993. He also holds an MSC from the University of Birmingham and is a graduate of the Institut d’Etude Politique de Paris (French Grande Ecole). Marc enjoys travelling, skiing, horseback riding, foreign languages and electronics. Marc is fluent in French, Spanish and English.