RBS Sells Aviation Unit to Sumitomo Mitsui for $7.3 Billion

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Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc is selling its aviation leasing unit to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. for about $7.3 billion, the biggest disposal by the state-owned lender since its U.K. government bailout in 2008.

The sale of the Dublin-based unit should be completed by the end of the third quarter, leaving Japan’s second-biggest bank by market value and partner Sumitomo Corp. in control of a fleet of 206 aircraft, with commitments to buy another 87 by 2015, RBS said in a statement. The Tokyo-based group fended off bids from China Development Bank Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. as its President Koichi Miyata sought overseas acquisitions to counter slowing growth at home.