TOKYO, Aug 3 : Japanese trading house Itochu will buy 50 per cent of U.S. aircraft leasing business Aviation Capital Group (ACG) from Tokyo Century for $1.946 billion, it said on Monday, expanding its aviation operations on expectations of continued growth in the leasing market.

• Itochu said the deal will also give it a role in the management of ACG, which is wholly owned by a Tokyo Century subsidiary.

• Itochu leases more than 90 aircraft and engines to airlines worldwide.

• Itochu has identified aviation as a key growth area and expects the acquisition to accelerate the expansion of related businesses and establish aviation as a new earnings pillar, Chief Financial Officer Hiroyuki Naka told a news conference.

• The company aims to boost profit from its aviation-related business to 50 billion yen ($319 million) within five years, from an expected 16 billion yen in its 2026 financial year, Naka said.

• The deal is scheduled to complete in the third quarter of the current financial year.

($1 = 156.7300 yen)