By Matt Wirz

Willis Lease Finance has issued $65 million of asset-backed financings tied to the aircraft engines it leases, helping its stock rise about 8% over the past 10 days.

Shares of private-credit lenders like Willis, Apollo and Blue Owl are rebounding from a brutal start to the month. The surge reflects hopes that U.S. tariffs won't be as high as first announced and that the firms will benefit if trade tensions cause a slowdown in bank lending activity.

The new lease financings were sold to Japanese institutional investors, part of a renaissance of the asset-backed securitization, or ABS, market. Willis leases replacement engines to airlines when existing equipment needs servicing. Publicly traded aircraft-backed bonds have existed for decades, but transactions by private-credit lenders surged in the past five years as banks retreated.

Willis has carved out a niche by marketing the transactions directly to Japanese buyers starting in 2023 and has raised $120 million so far through the deals, according to a statement.

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April 29, 2025 14:07 ET (18:07 GMT)

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