Private equity firm seeks to bail out of executive jet group for £1bn



By Mark Leftly
Sunday, 2 March 2008

Permira, the private equity giant, is mulling the £1bn sale of Jet Aviation Group, its Swiss-based executive jet business.

It is understood that Permira has appointed Morgan Stanley, the investment bank, to review the business, with a sale the most likely result.

Permira bought a majority share in the company for an undisclosed fee in late 2005, but hunger for consolidation in the air-travel industry is thought to have prompted the decision to exit. An industry source said: "At £1bn, the sale is in the mid-market for private equity. You would need a fairly specialist knowledge for this sector, so it could be a trade buy."

NetJets, the private-jet operator owned by Warren Buffett, the billionaire US investor, was named by the source as a potential bidder. The listed private equity firm 3i could also be interested, having been involved in failed $500m (£250m) takeover talks nearly six years ago.

The exact price tag is unclear, but a leading industry banker said that it would probably be slightly more than £1bn.

Founded in 1967, Jet Aviation employs 5,100 people, runs its operations from 20 airports around the globe, and owns a fleet of more than 200 aircraft. Under Permira, the company has pursued a buy-and-build strategy, its purchase of US rival Midcoast Aviation in February 2006 boosting sales by one-third to more than $800m.

The strategy continued as recently as January, when Jet Aviation bought Savannah Air Center, a US-based independent maintenance company.

I didn't know NetJets had that kind of cash. 1 billion Euro, that's about $1.5 billion USD (isn't it?)

here's the link

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/bu...bn-790168.html

opinions, comments are welcome

NetJet's Parent Company, Berkshire Hathaway has pretty deep pockets although an acquisition has to add value to the franchise. I've held Berkshire stock for over 20 years and have never seen them over pay for an acquisition.

sorry, you're absolutely right. I keep thinking Santulli, but its actually Buffet, and its been for a few years. I'll wake up some time today.......

Uncle Warren once said in an interview that the toughest part of his job was trying to find companies to buy with the BILLIONS and BILLIONS of cash Berkshire has. He said the companies available for purchase are usually over valued or poorly run and he won't touch any company that smells of either.

He won't pay top dollar. That's the equivalent of paying sticker price for a car.

Skyward80

Watching the news, he's the richest man in the world. Just passed Mexico's Carlos Slim and Mr. Gates. I guess you got to do something with that money.

He lost money on his US Airways adventure back in the 90s, he said he was done with the airlines or anything resembling that. Now he owns NetJets, Flight Safety, and a "potential bidder" for Jet Aviation. Go figure....

I say buy the Island of Barbados, and just chill out.

Or a nice pair of glasses!

LoL A REALLLY REALLLLLY REALLLLY NICE PAIR OF SUNGLASSES!

Uncle Warren is a pretty simple guy. Put him in the back, make sure he's got some Tootsie Rolls and a Cherry Coke and he's good to go.