(Yicai Global) Dec. 29 -- China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Ltd. [HKG:1848], China's largest aircraft leasing company, has penned an agreement to purchase 50 Airbus A320neo series planes for a total list price of nearly USD5.4 billion. The firm will make the payment in installments starting from 2023, it said in a filing to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited today.

By this deal, the company's cumulative aircraft orders reached 252, of which 202 are from Airbus SE [EPA:AIR], with Boeing Co. [NYSE:BA] to provide 50 planes.  Under the industry practice for such deals, Airbus is expected to offer preferential prices for the transaction during the negotiations between the pair, so the actual price could be lower than the total list price, the statement added.

China Aircraft Leasing is Asia's first listed aircraft leasing company. The Hong Kong-based group has offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Labuan of Malaysia, Toulouse of France and Dublin of Ireland.

China Everbright Limited [HKG:0165] is the largest shareholder of the company, holding 35.6 percent of its equity. China Everbright, a diversified financial holding company in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, is the second largest shareholder of China Everbright Securities Co. [SHA:601788] and the third largest shareholder of China Everbright Bank Co. [SHA:601818; HKG:6818]. China Everbright has become one of the first batch of Hong Kong stocks available for trading since the launch of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect in 2014.