UK business aircraft management and charter company Hangar8 has snapped up high-end business aircraft charter operator International JetClub (IJC) and is set to continue on the acquisition trail in the coming months as it eyes other similar acquisitions.
"We are looking for management companies like ours," says Hangar8 founder and chief executive Dustin Dryden. "We are not interested in businesses which own their own aircraft. They are invariably servicing a debt and negative on that metal."
Dryden says Farnborough, UK-based IJC - for which it has paid £1.1 million ($1.8 million) cash and the issue of 500,000 ordinary shares in Hangar8 - is a perfect fit as it "specialises in top-end business jets" with its fleet of "Boeings, Bombardier Globals and Gulfstreams".
"Not only can we now offer a complete business aircraft fleet of 50 aircraft [from helicopters and light jets to VIP airliners] but we can extend our global reach as 44 of our line-up is now heavy, long-range jets," adds Dryden.
Hangar8 has been eyeing potential suitors for about 18 months and earlier this year acquired South African operator StarGate Aviation. "We have looked at about 30 companies of which we particularly liked three," Dryden adds.
Hangar8 has bucked the trend in the otherwise fragile charter market. In November it posted a 32% increase in year-end gross profits to £4.9 million. Dryden says the company's success can be attributed to its decision to manage other people's aircraft rather than "incurring the crippling costs" of buying and operating it own fleet.
Hangar8 has also pursued long-term charter contracts. "This has given us stability in this volatile market," he says. "Most of our contracts are for 12 months or more and these now account for 70% of our business," Dryden adds.
Source: Flight International
