(Reuters) - Jazz Aviation owner Chorus Aviation said on Tuesday it would sell its regional aircraft leasing segment for about $1.9 billion to investment fund manager HPS Investment Partners LLC, in order to reduce its debt.

The sale of the leasing segment, which does aircraft leasing and management, came about as a transition to an asset-light model would take longer than expected, Paul Rivett, chair of Chorus board, said.

The deal, which includes $814 million in the form of cash and $1.1 billion in aircraft debt, is expected to close by the end of the year.

"This transaction will allow us to significantly reduce our debt and corporate financings, leaving Chorus with strong and predictable free cash flows from our long-term contracts," said Chorus CEO Colin Copp.

Copp added that the company will continue to focus on growth in its regional aviation services segment, which undertakes maintenance, repair and overhaul services and pilot training.

Chorus' largest shareholders, Brookfield Asset Management and Air Canada, which hold stakes of about 13.2% and 8.1%, respectively, have agreed to the deal.

(This story has been corrected to remove the reference to contract flying in paragraph 2)

(Reporting by Aatreyee Dasgupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore, Maju Samuel and Shailesh Kuber)