McDonnell, Taiwanese Firms Plan Venture

U.S. aircraft maker McDonnell Douglas and several Taiwanese business conglomerates will set up a joint venture to lease airplanes to international airlines, executives said. St. Louis-based McDonnell Douglas and Taiwan’s Central Leasing Co. each will take a 20% stake in the $200-million venture, said Tong Chieh-tsun, vice president of Central Leasing. The other shareholders will be Taiwanese business groups, including Formosa Plastics, Cathay Life Insurance, Shinkong and the Koo’s Group, Tong said. The venture, to be called Seanho Leasing, will buy up to 200 jetliners for lease to international airlines, he said. The venture will cater to the Chinese and other Asian markets, where demand for passenger jets is expected to skyrocket in the next decade, reports said.