Japan's Orix to buy $2.2 billion stake in HNA's aircraft lessor Avolon

Japanese financial services group Orix Corp has struck a $2.2 billion deal to buy a 30 percent stake in aircraft lessor Avolon Holdings as cash-strapped Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co Ltd trims holdings in its core assets. The stake purchase in the world’s No. 3 lessor will help Orix to bulk up in the $280 billion global aircraft leasing market, where demand is growing, supported by a rise in low-cost carriers and passenger traffic. The agreed deal will allow Orix Aviation Systems Ltd, a fully-owned unit of Orix, to gain part control of a lessor that has 562 aircraft, nearly three times its size.