Boston-based private equity firm Advent International is moving to sell off specialist operator Cobham Aviation Services Australia – Regional (JTE, Adelaide) and has hired investment bank Macquarie Capital to oversee the sale and seek out potential buyers, sources have told The Australian Financial Review.
A deal could be worth in excess of AUD1.5 billion Australian dollars (USD1.1 billion), the insiders said.
Advent, which also owns the Australian carrier’s parent, the British defence and aerospace company Cobham Group, would conduct an auction in two parts over the coming months, the sources claimed without elaborating. Advent acquired Cobham in January 2020.
Cobham Aviation Services Australia – Regional, formerly JetEx, has both a charter business and fly-in fly-out (FIFO) and special missions operations, and it is understood that it is the special missions ops, including airborne surveillance and search and rescue, that are the most lucrative.
Bankers at Macquarie Capital have reportedly sent a sale flyer to interested parties pointing to the business’s apparent resilience and its exposure to essential services.
Cobham Aviation Services Australia Pty Ltd posted AUD368 million (USD265 million) in revenue and AUD87.2 million (USD62.8 million) in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) for the year to December 2020, with assets worth AUD407 million (USD293 million), according to accounting data.
The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows that Regional currently operates four ARJ-100s, one ARJ-85, one BAe 146-300, five DHC-8-Q400s, three ERJ 190-100ARs, and one ERJ 190-100LR, all of which are wet-leased to Cobham Aviation Services Australia – Airline Services, a former Cobham Group unit which was acquired by Qantas Group in 2020. Regional also operates four BAe 146-300(QT)s on behalf of Qantas Freight. All of the aircraft are dry-leased except for the BAe Systems equipment.
GLOBALX (G6, Miami Int’l) has posted a job ad for B717-200 pilots and is looking to add ten ex-Volotea (V7, Asturias) aircraft of the type, Dutch aviation news site Scramble has reported.
The charter specialist is seeking pilots type rated on either the B717 or MD80 Family aircraft for “the initial cadre for the B717” fleet. It did not provide any further details regarding service entry dates for the type, its fleet size, or prospective bases.
Sources indicated that the airline is likely to lease ten ex-Volotea B717s from BCC Equipment Leasing. The Spanish carrier retired all aircraft of the type in 2021 to focus on its A320 Family fleet going forward. The ch-aviation fleets ownership module shows Boeing‘s in-house lessor owns thirteen ex-Volotea B717s, currently in storage at Victorville. Volotea continues to own four more stored at each of Ciudad Real (three) and Verona (one).
The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows that the B717s remain in operation with just three airlines:…
Regional Express Holdings has announced it is acquiring Cobham Aviation Services Australia – Regional (JTE, Adelaide) from Cobham Group for around AUD48 million Australian dollars (USD32.6 million).
In a statement, the firm said its Rex Freight and Charter Pty Ltd (RFC) subsidiary would acquire 100% of National Jet Express Pty Ltd (NJE) by drawing down an additional AUD15 million (USD10.2 million) under its convertible note facility with PAG Regulus Holdings Pte Ltd. and from its own cash resources to fund 50% of the purchase price. The remaining 50% will come from its joint venture partners, one of whom is Rex’s chairman, who will be funding their 50% share with private funds. They are said to have agreed to convert that debt funding to be issued with new shares in NJE to reduce Rex’s debt burden, so that ultimately Rex and its joint venture partners will each own 50% of NJE.
For its part, NJE provides Fly-In Fly-Out (FIFO) services in Western Australia and South Australia, and also operates freight services from Sydney Kingsford Smith…
Cobham Aviation Services Australia – Regional (JTE, Adelaide) has retired the last of its ARJ-100s, marking the end of an era for the specialist Australian cargo and fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) passenger charter services provider.
Making the announcement on social media, the company said: “These aircraft have been integral to Cobham since the inception of the company 32 years ago. The distinctive low-slung jet engines and T-shaped tail of the BAe 145/Avro RJ jet have made it a true icon of the skies, and it has been the workhorse of our FIFO and charter operations”.
According to Cobham Aviation, its final flight of a BAe 146/Avro RJ touched down at its base in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia (SA), on Friday, June 3, 2022. FlightRadar24 ADS-B data showed it to have been the 22-year-old company-owned VH-NJP (msn E3354) which landed at 1733L (0803Z) from Port Augusta.
Another one of the type, the 23-year old VH-NJY (msn E3331), had returned from Port Augusta to Adelaide a day earlier, on June 2, 2022….
Rex – Regional Express (ZL, Wagga Wagga) has been conducting due diligence for a possible acquisition of Cobham Aviation Services Australia – Regional (JTE, Adelaide) and may make a bid in the coming weeks, sources have told The Australian Financial Review.
The newspaper revealed in February that Boston-based private equity firm Advent International was looking to sell the specialist operator and had hired investment bank Macquarie Capital to oversee the sale, which could fetch more than AUD1.5 billion Australian dollars (USD1.05 billion). Advent bought the Australian carrier’s parent, the British defence and aerospace company Cobham Group, in January 2020.
Two units are reportedly up for sale – Cobham’s cargo and fly-in, fly-out passenger (FIFO) charter services business mainly serving Australia’s mining companies, and Surveillance Australia, which has a long-term contract to provide maritime observations for the country’s border force.
Macquarie has told interested parties that they can bid for one or both of the businesses, but it is the FIFO unit – one of three such carriers in Australia – that…
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