Photo: EFW
Air Transport Services Group (ATSG), a specialist in medium widebody freighter aircraft leasing, air transport operations and support services, has been acquired by Stonepeak, an investment firm specialising in infrastructure and real assets.
ATSG has been acquired in an all-cash transaction with an enterprise valuation of approximately $3.1bn.
Mike Berger, chief executive of ATSG, commented: “Today marks an important milestone in ATSG’s journey.
“As a private company – and with Stonepeak’s support, as a leading investor in transportation, logistics, and asset leasing businesses – we are well-positioned to enhance our capabilities and sustain ATSG’s long term growth.”
James Wyper, senior managing director, head of transportation & logistics, and head of US private equity at Stonepeak, noted: “ATSG has proven itself to be a leader in global aircraft leasing, with significant scale, strong customer relationships and an incredibly talented team across all of its businesses.”
He said that Stonepeak would be supporting ATSG in its “next chapter as a private company”.
The transaction was announced on November 4 last year and received the approval of ATSG’s stockholders on February 10 this year.
A varied offering
ATSG has an aircraft fleet that includes Boeing 767, Airbus A321 and A330 converted freighters.
Its Lease+Plus aircraft leasing opportunity draws upon a diverse portfolio of subsidiaries including three airlines holding separate and distinct US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 121 Air Carrier certificates to provide air cargo lift, as well as passenger aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI) and charter services.
ATSG subsidiaries comprise ABX Air; Airborne Global Solutions Airborne Maintenance and Engineering Services, including its subsidiary, Pemco World Air Services; Air Transport International; Cargo Aircraft Management (CAM); LGSTX Services; and Omni Air International.
Last month (March), ATSG said that it expected to soon take delivery of the first of 29 Airbus A330-300 Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) jets it has on order.
The A330P2Fs will come from Dresden-based Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), a joint venture between ST Engineering and Airbus.
The jets will be positioned with ATSG subsidiary CAM, which acquires used passenger aircraft for cargo conversion and leases them to Amazon, DHL and ATSG’s subsidiary airlines.
