SHERIDAN, WYOMING - April 14, 2026 - Ashland Place Finance LLC, a U.S.-based global lending platform operating exclusively in commercial aerospace, received the "Global Editor's Deal of the Year" award from Airline Economics on March 10, 2026. The recognition follows a sequence of notable transactions over the preceding eighteen months, including the pricing of a second aviation loan asset-backed securitization in September 2025 and the completion of multiple financing facilities for private equity sponsors and aircraft lessors. The award extends a run of industry recognition that also includes a "Structured Finance Deal of the Year" from Airline Economics in February 2024 and a "Best Americas Deal 2023" from Ishka in March 2024.
Business impact
Ashland Place's deal calendar through late 2024 and 2025 reflects sustained origination across a range of counterparty types. The firm completed its seventh financing facility for Flight Lease in June 2025, two new facilities for Sirius Aviation Capital in April 2025, and three additional facilities for Flight Lease in March 2025. In July 2025, it completed an initial transaction for Fortress Investment Group and GOAL Aircraft Leasing, followed by third and fourth facilities for the same counterparties in October 2025. The January 2026 elevation of Jennifer Villa-Executive Director & Group Head-to Vice Chair represents a structural leadership adjustment as the platform continues to build out.
Securitization and Capital Markets
The firm priced its second aviation loan asset-backed securitization in September 2025, following the inaugural issuance in December 2023. The ABS format enables capital recycling and opens the platform's aviation loan pools to institutional fixed-income investors, providing a funding channel beyond bilateral lending relationships. Ashland Place structures financing on both limited and full recourse bases, with options for full payout amortizations or balloon structures, accommodating single-asset transactions through to large portfolios. The collateral universe spans Airbus, Boeing, Embraer, and ATR aircraft and their engines for passenger and freighter configurations, supporting varied counterparty mandates.
Team and Operational Coverage
The addition of Sarah Conway as Director in October 2025 extended Ashland Place's geographic reach. Conway is London-based and brings more than twenty years of aviation finance and banking experience, including senior roles at Hamburg Commercial Bank, Deucalion Aviation, MUFG Bank, DVB Bank, and RBS Aviation Capital; she also serves as a Director on the ISTAT Board. Associate Jithin Abraham, based in Dublin, joined from Voyager Aviation Holdings and Chorus Aviation, adding commercial transaction and financial modelling depth. Villa's background includes oversight of a $22 billion portfolio of aircraft loans and leases during her tenure as SVP and Chief Risk Officer at CIT's aerospace business, where she nearly tripled the aviation lending loan book in under three years prior to CIT's acquisition by KKR in June 2021.
Sector Context
Commercial aviation finance has seen continued demand from private equity sponsors accumulating aircraft assets outside traditional airline balance sheets, and from lessors managing capital-intensive fleets. Specialist lenders able to underwrite across multiple type-certificate families-including engine-only collateral structures-occupy a differentiated position relative to larger diversified bank lenders. Ashland Place's sole focus on commercial aviation, rather than a multi-sector lending mandate, is the firm's stated positioning differentiator for sponsors, lessors, and airlines seeking execution certainty from a dedicated counterparty.
Key facts:
- "Global Editor's Deal of the Year" award from Airline Economics received March 10, 2026
- Jennifer Villa elevated to Vice Chair in January 2026; previously managed a $22 billion aircraft loan and lease portfolio at CIT
- Second aviation loan ABS priced September 2025; inaugural ABS priced December 2023
- Third and fourth financing facilities for Fortress Investment Group and GOAL Aircraft Leasing completed October 2025
- Sarah Conway joined as London-based Director in October 2025, bringing over 20 years of aviation finance experience