Achieved 20% annual portfolio growth
Delivered USD 300m of portfolio expansion through the acquisition, financing and leasing of 11 aircraft to 8 airlines involving 7 lenders.
Guiding strategic transactions, restructurings and operational improvement across the aviation sector.
Organisations operate in environments that are constantly evolving. Priorities shift, organisations grow, markets change and new challenges emerge. As objectives evolve, organisations do not always adapt at the same pace. The expertise and perspectives required to achieve those objectives rarely sit in one place and are often shaped by competing priorities and constraints.
Achieving successful outcomes requires more than expertise alone. Realising that vision requires understanding what leadership is seeking to achieve and identifying what may be preventing progress. It also requires reconciling often divergent priorities and constraints in a way that creates direction, builds momentum and delivers tangible results.
Ascendiate is an independent platform created to turn competing priorities into clear direction and momentum, transforming goals into achievement. Ascendiate’s value is not only to achieve today’s objectives, but also to build the organisational capability required to address tomorrow’s challenges.
Every mandate begins with understanding what leadership is seeking to achieve. The immediate objective provides the starting point. Understanding the broader context often reveals opportunities that extend beyond the objective itself.
Nicholas Zaklama founded Ascendiate having made a simple observation after almost 25 years working alongside leadership teams:
“The strongest outcomes are achieved when immediate objectives become opportunities to strengthen the organisation for what comes next.”
Ascendiate’s approach is therefore to use immediate objectives as opportunities to build stronger organisations.
Delivered USD 300m of portfolio expansion through the acquisition, financing and leasing of 11 aircraft to 8 airlines involving 7 lenders.
Directed the refinancing of USD 4bn across 24 financing facilities involving 14 financiers, forming a key part of the airline’s broader IPO readiness programme and establishing a more scalable capital structure.
Structured and implemented a portfolio-wide USD 1.1bn restructuring and refinancing that preserved liquidity and protected long-term value throughout the COVID-19 period.
Redesigned payment acceptance and processing frameworks, accelerating cash collection and delivering funding-cost savings of approximately USD 10m per annum.
Expanded derivatives capability to optimise hedging strategy and liquidity efficiency, achieving material savings (including c.USD 150m from fuel hedging).
Developed the operating model and commercial framework required to launch and scale a new engine leasing business division.