Japan's SMBC eyes 80 Boeing planes in $8.7 billion deal

SMBC already has more than 370 planes, is pursuing the deal due to strong growth in the budget carrier sector

Japanese aircraft leasing giant SMBC Aviation Capital plans to buy 80 Boeing jets in a deal worth as much as $8.7 billion, a report said today.

Japan's leading Nikkei business daily said the firm, which already has a stable of more than 370 planes, was pursuing the deal on the back of a strong growth in the budget carrier sector.

SMBC Aviation, owned by Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and trading giant Sumitomo Corp, will buy about 80 units of the 737 MAX 8-a 200-seat, single-aisle, fuel-efficient plane- by 2022, the Nikkei said, without citing sources.

The deal could be worth up to USD 8.7 billion at list prices, the report said.

Sumitomo Mitsui President Koichi Miyata and Ray Conner, president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, will hold a news briefing in Tokyo later today, the two firms said in a joint statement, without elaborating.

In July, SMBC Aviation announced an order from Airbus for 115 single-aisle A320s in a deal worth around $11.7 billion at list prices.

The expected announcement Monday comes less than a week after a property flagship led by Asia's richest tycoon Li Ka-shing said it planned to buy up to 60 passenger jets in a series of transactions that amount to more than $2.5 billion.