(Reuters) – AerCap (AER.N) has emerged as one of the leading forces in aviation after agreeing to buy the world’s second-largest jet lessor, but its chief executive said on Monday he was in no hurry to join the industry’s recent plane ordering bonanza.

AerCap announced plans last week to buy International Lease Finance Corp from insurer AIG (AIG.N) for $5 billion, cementing ILFC’s role as the industry’s number two by fleet size behind General Electric’s (GE.N) aircraft financing arm GECAS.

AerCap Chief Executive Aengus Kelly said the Dutch-based company’s priority would be to digest ILFC and manage its large portfolio, which includes an order book for next-generation aircraft, while restoring its debt to investment grade.

“Our focus initially will be to harvest the value we have created in this transaction and to start de-levering the balance sheet,” Kelly said in a telephone interview.

“It is not about wanting to order, but if we don’t get the right price, as in the past, we will be very careful in the use of our capital and we won’t spend it where we don’t think we are getting an appropriate risk-reward return.”

Standard & Poor’s said last week it planned to lower AerCap’s corporate credit rating BB+ from BBB-, dipping below investment grade, as a result of the deal to buy ILFC.

Kelly said AerCap intended to restore the rating to investment grade. Asked how long this might take, he said, “The deal won’t close until April or May 2014, so you would have to show a couple of years of financial results post-closing, I would think.”

While many airlines and leasing companies have placed large orders with Airbus and Boeing, giving them work for seven or eight years, AerCap last placed a direct order in 2007 and has mainly bought aircraft from airlines while agreeing to lease them back.

One reason AerCap says it has been cautious has been the long wait before most available deliveries, meaning the cost can rise sharply after escalation or adjustments for inflation.

But ILFC, which helped launch the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 and has ordered 150 A320neos, represented a one-off opportunity to buy a portfolio with good prices and early availability after Chinese suitors missed payment deadlines.

“ILFC had very attractive pricing, attractive slots and types and we didn’t buy (the aircraft) from manufacturers. We bought them from AIG (at) a big discount to book value. So it was a question of the value – we just thought this was outstanding,” Kelly said.

SOURCE REUTERS, Read More..