Delivering Deals That Move the World
Current events are reshaping the global transport industry in real time. Geopolitical conflicts, unpredictable trade policies, and hardening insurance markets have made competing in this industry more difficult and less predictable for participants. In this environment, there’s no substitute for our broad and deep experience that allows us to foresee challenges, not just respond to them. At Smith Gambrell & Russell, our team leads transactions that can drive growth in this changing landscape. With our guidance, you’ll be confident your choices are sound and best informed for the challenges you face to achieve the outcomes you desire.
Our Capabilities
Wherever you do business, we’re there. Established and emerging players worldwide depend on us to execute their most important international transactions. Our broad client base of operators, lenders, and lessors give us exposure to all sides of the industry and allow us to provide clients with practical real-time, 360-degree counsel. Our team can efficiently handle your essential needs, from regular purchases, sales and leases of assets to structured financings involving highly complex financial instruments, from single-asset deals to portfolio financings involving whole fleets across multiple jurisdictions.
With aviation practitioners in the U.S., UK, and EU, combined with our work for airlines, global operating lessors and governmental export credit agencies, we are exceptionally well positioned to assist our clients with transactions in the world’s largest markets as well as little-known jurisdictions.
Our Approach
In this industry, time is money. We concentrate on saving you both. When you need to close, we efficiently deploy every necessary resource, assembling top-notch teams from across the firm to get it done. Practitioners from our M&A, bankruptcy, litigation, corporate, and regulatory groups are always ready to lend a hand, illuminating critical considerations while safeguarding your interests. From top to bottom, our team is committed to your success. It’s evident in our responsiveness, our attention to your needs and objectives, and the extra mile we’ll go to engineer a creative solution.
For us, legal engagements are “partnerships” based on mutual respect and trust. That’s why clients select us to advise them on their most important decisions. Our deep knowledge of industry, your assets, and your risk appetite means we can better help you assess your business options, and we’re always looking for ways to improve your bottom line. As one client told Chambers USA, “[the firm] keeps things moving with the utmost care. Its lawyers don’t have to be prompted to take next steps, they’re the ones driving the progress.”
Our Credentials
We’re not just a finance practice – and we never have been. When SGR established a Global Transport practice in 1927, we began a 60-year-long partnership with Eastern Airlines, serving as the company’s general external legal counsel on all business matters. Today, we continue the tradition of being full service to our transportation industry clients. The scope of our knowledge extends far beyond deal documents. We’ve spent 100 years helping clients connect their transactions to every other aspect of their business. We’ve been around the shop floor, too, and we know your assets inside and out. When we structure a deal, we consider the technical and commercial dimensions as much as the legal ones. Whether you’re making decisions on the purchase of a new fleet, disposing of an aircraft, entering into new financing arrangements or restructuring existing obligations, we help you execute quickly and efficiently on those plans while positioning you for long-term success.
What We Do
Fleet and Platform Acquisitions
Advising operators, lessors, lenders and investors on the acquisition of individual assets, fleets and portfolio platforms, including complex cross‑border structures and integrations.
Leasing and Fleet Deployment
Structuring and negotiating operating leases, finance leases, seasonal and sub‑leasing arrangements for operators, lessors and financing parties, supporting fleet growth, optimization and redeployment strategies.
Sale & Leaseback Transactions
Advising operators, lessors, lenders and investors on sale and leaseback transactions and asset disposals designed to release capital, manage balance sheets and support liquidity objectives.
Debt and Structured Asset Finance
Acting for operators, lessors, lenders and investors on secured and unsecured financings, warehouse and portfolio facilities, and other structured debt solutions for aircraft, engines and transport assets.
Pre‑Delivery and New Aircraft Financings
Advising operators, lessors and lenders on pre‑delivery payment (PDP) financings and delivery‑phase structures for new aircraft entering service.
Export Credit and Supported Financings
Advising operators, lessors, lenders and financiers on export credit agency (ECA)‑supported transactions and other government‑backed financing structures used in global transport markets.
Portfolio Management and Lease Transfers
Advising operators, lessors and lenders on lease novations, beneficial interest transfers, refinancing‑driven transitions and other portfolio and fleet management transactions.
Asset Management and End‑of‑Life Strategies
Supporting operators, lessors, asset managers and investors on teardowns, part‑outs, green‑time leasing, engine and parts trading, and other end‑of‑life asset strategies.
Restructurings, Distress and Enforcement
Advising operators, lessors, lenders and investors on restructurings, insolvencies, negotiated solutions and aircraft and engine enforcement and repossession processes worldwide.
Regulatory and Cross‑Border Transactional Support
Advising operators, lessors, lenders and investors on transport‑specific regulatory issues, registrations and multi‑jurisdictional considerations affecting global asset ownership, financing and operation.
