New York fund GIP takes lead in bidding war for Signature Aviation
The board of Signature Aviation have this morning accepted a $4.6bn (£3.4bn) takeover offer from New York fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).
Shares in the firm rose 8.8 per cent on the back of the announcement.
The $5.50 a share bid beat off competition from Blackstone, which had won the backing of billionaire Bill Gates, and Carlyle.
The deal represents a 51 per cent premium on the FTSE 250 firm’s closing price on 16 December, the day before the bid is tabled.
But it is a blow to Blackstone, which along with Gates’ Cascade currently owns a 20 per cent stake in the London-based aviation company formerly known as BBA Aviation.
Just days ago Blackstone said that it had secured Gates’ support for an offer of $5.17 per share for the company.
Blackstone or Carlyle can still table a new bid for the company, which offers services such as fueling and maintenance at airports round the world.
It is the largest “fixed-base operator”, as such companies are known, in the world.
In December it emerged that the firm was up for sale, prompting a bidding war between several parties.
Commenting on the acquisition, Adebayo Ogunlesi, the chairman and managing partner of GIP, said:
“Signature, like many businesses in the aviation sector, needs to address the challenges resulting from Covid, whilst market conditions and earnings are likely to remain subdued for some time.
“As an experienced, long term infrastructure investor with a strong operational focus, we believe that we are the ideal partner for Signature going forward.”
GIP is understood to be targeting both organic growth and bolt-on acquisitions for Signature, once the initial disruption has dissipated.
Sir Nigel Rudd, chairman of Signature, said: “Over recent years, the management of Signature has created a leading global private aviation support services business, whilst streamlining the group to maximise value for shareholders.
“We believe that the offer from GIP represents an attractive and certain value in cash today for Signature Shareholders, reflecting the high quality of the business and its network, its people and its future prospects.”