Oak Hill backs Irish financier

US-based private equity group Oak Hill Capital Partners is gearing up to provide US$500m to Avolon, an aircraft leasing company founded by Irish financier Dómhnal Slattery.

Ireland-based Avolon is aiming to raise US$800m in total. Slattery has employed the services of investment bank UBS to set up a US$690m credit facility to enable Avolon to make its first acquisitions.

No stranger to private equity, Slattery set up Claret Capital in 2004, an Irish private equity firm that has been badly affected by the economic downturn.

Registered in Ireland, Avolon is planning to use the funding to purchase 120 passenger aircraft, including Airbus 320s and Boeing 737s.