Background
Babcock & Brown’s operating lease business grew out of the Group’s long history as an advisor and arranger of sophisticated finance leasing transactions.
In 1986, Babcock & Brown formed a joint venture company with the Nomura Group, Nomura Babcock & Brown (NBB), to market and syndicate aircraft subject to operating leases into Japan. Babcock & Brown’s aircraft operating lease group (BBAM) was formed in 1989 to leverage the resulting demand from Japanese private equity investors for leased aircraft. BBAM is now the leading arranger of syndicated aircraft finance in the Japanese market and manages the world’s sixth largest portfolio of leased commercial jets by value.
Having identified the opportunity to extend the skills gained through aircraft leasing to railcars, the rail division was formed in 1999 when Babcock & Brown hired a team of senior professionals from CIT, including the President of its Rail Division. This business has grown rapidly and now manages over 10,000 railcars.
The model was further extended to semiconductor manufacturing equipment in June 2002, when a team of senior professionals joined Babcock & Brown from Comdisco after the electronics portfolio of Comdisco was sold. The team has a track record of over 20 years in the semiconductor manufacturing equipment industry. The team has closed over US$5 billion in leasing transactions and provided equipment advisory services on more than US$500 million of additional transactions prior to joining Babcock & Brown.