Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc is selling its aviation leasing unit to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc is selling its aviation leasing unit to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. (8316) for about $7.3 billion, the biggest disposal by the state-owned lender since its U.K. government bailout in 2008.

The sale of the Dublin-based unit should be completed by the end of the third quarter, leaving Japan’s second-biggest bank by market value and partner Sumitomo Corp. in control of a fleet of 206 aircraft, with commitments to buy another 87 by 2015, RBS said in a statement. The Tokyo-based group fended off bids from China Development BankCorp. and Wells Fargo & Co. as its President Koichi Miyata sought overseas acquisitions to counter slowing growth at home.