Avia Solutions Group to enter into strategic partnership with Certares through a €300 million investment in the Group

Avia Solutions Group is pleased to announce it has entered into a strategic partnership with Certares Management LLC (“Certares”), a leading US-based investment specialist dedicated to the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors, in which Certares will provide a €300 million structured equity investment.

The investment will help enable the next phase of Avia Solutions Group’s growth plan for services in passenger and cargo aviation, maintenance and engineering, crew training, ground handling and logistics. Avia Solutions Group intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for strategic acquisitions, capital expenditures and general corporate purpose. The partnership with Certares will provide access to Certares’s complementary expertise and industry network as well as add new members to ASG Board that will further strengthen the governance of the organisation

Gediminas Žiemelis, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Avia Solutions Group, said: “We are pleased to welcome Certares as a new strategic partner in our Group. This important partnership marks the beginning of Avia Solutions Group’s next long-term development stage and the continuation of the growth of our global partnership network. With their impressive track record and sole focus on the travel sector, we are convinced Certares will add significant value to Avia Solutions Group’s next phase of growth.”

Tom Klein, Senior Managing Director of Certares said: “Avia Solutions Group has built itself into a premier provider of aerospace services. Certares’s investment will support ASG’s growth and consolidation strategy in the aerospace services sector where they have developed both quality and scale advantages. The management team’s track record of building leading market positions in the aerospace services sector as well as ASG’s broad geographic footprint, synergistic service offering and proven ability to source and integrate accretive acquisitions make them a perfect partner for Certares. We look forward to partnering with Avia Solutions Group to grow and geographically expand their leadership positions.”

Avia Solutions Group is a leading aerospace services group with almost 100 offices and production facilities worldwide. ASG employs over 7,000 highly skilled professionals, serving more than 2,000 clients throughout Europe, Asia, North America, Australia, and far beyond. Avia Solutions Group holds more than 500 licenses for its constantly growing range of activities across multiple business sectors. Its vast portfolio of services to clients include; aircraft leasing and trading, MRO services, business aviation and VIP airline procurement, charter and cargo aviation, pilot and crew training, recruitment services, along with multiple additional services across a wide range of associated operations.

Established in 2012, Certares focuses on direct investments in proprietary transactions, leveraging deep sector experience in the travel and hospitality industries, and with a consistent emphasis on partnership with management teams to drive growth. Certares brings together a team with decades of both operational and investment experience in private equity, travel, tourism, hospitality and travel-related business and consumer services. For more information, please visit certares.com.

The transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals and is expected to close in Q4 2021.

ASG was advised by Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc and White & Case as financial and legal advisers respectively. Certares was advised by Herbert Smith Freehills as legal adviser.