LEAD: RBS hails sale of aircraft leasing unit to Japan

Jan 17, 2012, 13:03 GMT

Tokyo/London - Britain's part-nationalized Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Tuesday hailed as a 'significant success' the sale of its aircraft leasing business to a consortium led by Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group for 7.2 billion dollars.

The deal represented a major step forward in the bank's efforts to reduce 'its non-core portfolio and return the group to a position of strength,' RBS finance director Bruce Van Saun said in a statement in London Tuesday.

RBS, which was bailed out by the British government in 2008, and which is still 83-per cent state-owned, has focused on efforts to streamline its operations in recent years, leading to the loss of around 50,000 jobs.

In Tokyo, Sumitomo Mitsui said the acquisition of RBS Aviation Capital, the world's fourth-largest aircraft leasing company, would enable the firms 'to further expand and develop in the business in Asia and other emerging markets.'

'The aircraft leasing industry expects demand for commercial aircraft to continue to grow steadily, underpinned by the increasing volume of air travellers on the back of the growth of emerging markets ... and the rapid growth of low-cost careers,' it said.

The holding company for Japan's second-largest bank and the trading firm formed a company in 2008 to develop an aircraft leasing business, they said.

RBS Aviation Capital, established in 2001, is headquartered in Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland. It employs 69 specialists based in Dublin and eight other locations in Europe, the US and Asia.

The leasing company, which counts Air China and low-cost carrier easyJet among its customers, owns 206 aircraft and has commitments to purchase a further 87 by 2015, the statement said.

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