Airlines

A group of investors including management is reportedly closing on a deal to buy International Lease Finance (ILFC) from American International Group (AIG).

The Bloomberg news agency quotes ILFC founder and CEO Steve Udvar-Hazy as saying in an interview that he and other unidentified investors will close the deal by early next year.

Udvar-Hazy founded the aircraft lessor 35 years ago and it was bought by AIG in 1990 for $1.3 billion in stock. Udvar-Hazy has for several months been reported to be in talks to buy the company back from AIG, which in September was bailed out by the US Government, which now has a controlling stake.

The news agency says Udvar-Hazy indicated that ILFC has a value of around $10 billion.