Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Freshfields) advised Deutsche Lufthansa AG (DLH) on the sale and leaseback of five Airbus 321neo and seven Airbus A320neo. The transactions were entered into with two lessors and include tailored warehousing structures with respect to certain of the aircraft, allowing for a pre-determined subsequent structural change of the lessor. The sale of the aircraft generated proceeds for DLH of over EUR 600 million. Operated by Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Lufthansa CityLine, and Eurowings GmbH, the aircraft are among the newest and most fuel efficient in the fleet. The transactions closed on 12 and 13 December 2023.

Freshfields advised DLH on all aspects of the transactions, including the RfP process, structuring, documentation, negotiation and implementation.

The Freshfields Team was led by partner Johannes Vogel, principal associate Celine Zeng, partner Konrad Schott, and principal associate Sebastian Naujoks (all Finance, Frankfurt), and further included partner Flora McLean (Finance, London), principal associate Anke Schellhaas, associate Tony Areri and trainee lawyers Jacob Uhlemann and Alysa Brueck (all Finance, Frankfurt).