Castlelake, a global alternative investment manager with 20 years of experience, has launched Merit AirFinance. This aviation lending business will provide debt capital to airlines and leasing companies for new and used aviation assets.
Merit AirFinance will operate as a separate subsidiary, focusing on delivering innovative debt solutions and building on Castlelake’s history of deploying over $5 billion in aviation lending since 2020. The new division will have its own office and dedicated origination team.
Patrick Mahoney will lead Merit AirFinance as President, utilizing his extensive experience in Castlelake’s aviation capital markets and underwriting. Jakob Gallagher will assume Mahoney’s previous role, overseeing Castlelake’s aviation capital markets function.
Merit launches with the ability to deploy more than $1.8 billion of committed capital through separately managed accounts.
KEY QUOTE:
“Castlelake has continuously innovated to provide the aviation market with flexible solutions across all aviation assets and the capital stack, and the formation of Merit AirFinance exemplifies this commitment to a solutions-oriented partnership approach. We believe that this approach is valuable to both aviation industry participants and our investors and that it enables us to create more opportunities to match capital with attractive risk-adjusted aviation exposure.”
Evan Carruthers, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Castlelake
