Practice experience

Debra is an asset finance lawyer based in London. Debra specializes in international asset finance and leasing with a particular emphasis on the aviation industry. Debra’s transaction experience includes operating lease financings, secured debt financings, export credit agency supported financings, portfolio and individual aircraft acquisitions and sales, and intra-group transfers.

Debra has represented several of the world’s largest aircraft leasing companies, operators and banks and has recently acted for Mitsubishi Corporation, CIT Group, AerCap, Sumitomo Corporation, HSH Nordbank, BNP Paribas, DVB Bank and The Thomas Cook Group. Debra has also spent time on secondment with AerCap in its Amsterdam office.

Formerly resident in Japan for close to a decade, Debra speaks and reads Japanese fluently and is familiar with Japanese corporate structures and many other aspects of Japanese law.

Examples of recent transaction experience include:

• Acting for an Irish subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation in connection with the acquisition of a portfolio of 17 aircraft involving 8 airlines in 7 jurisdictions.
• Acting for CIT Group in connection with the Export Credit Agency supported financing of up to 34 new Airbus aircraft.
• Acting for HSH Nordbank in connection with the transfer of a portfolio of aircraft by one of its borrowers into a single Irish holding structure.
• Acting for a syndicate of lenders in connection with the financing of an acquisition of 6 aircraft by AWAS.
• Acting for AerCap B.V. in respect of the acquisition of a portfolio of 27 aircraft involving 12 airlines in 10 jurisdictions;
• Acting for Sojitz Aircraft Leasing B.V. in respect of an intra-group transfer of a portfolio of 22 aircraft;
• Acting for the Thomas Cook Group in connection with various operating leases, and subleasing and wetleasing arrangements;
• Acting for a leasing company in connection with the insolvency of one of its lessees;
• Acting for Mitsubishi Corporation with respect to a number of aircraft sales and operating leases;
• Acting for Sumisho Aircraft Asset Management B.V. (a Sumitomo Corporation) with respect to numerous aircraft sales, acquisitions, JOLs, operating leases and sale and lease-backs; and
• Acting for AerCap B.V. in respect of numerous operating and finance leases, subleases, aircraft sales, JOL unwinds, and early terminations of leases.