Monday, 18 June 2012

Air Works invests in Empower Aviation Group


Leading aviation service provider Air Works India Engineering, on Monday, announced that it had made a strategic investment in Dubai-based Empire Aviation group (EAG), a move aimed at expanding its footprint in the Middle East and provide world-class aircraft management services in India. The strategic investment has been funded through a mix of internal accruals and structured debt finance of Rs.120 crore from KKR & Co, a leading global investment firm.
“Air Works has made a strategic investment to provide support to form Empire Aviation India, a firm that would not only take care of proper and optimum utilisation of business jets owned by an individual or a company but also provide AMS to the corporates. We are going to launch this product in August, and we would be the first company to bring such a product to India,” Vivek Gour, Managing Director, Air Works, told a news conference here.
The company would operate with generally under-utilised business jets belonging to individuals and companies. The company would focus on business jets only and set up a command office in Bangalore and liaison offices in Delhi and Mumbai. Later, it would expand to other metros. “We would be providing end-to-end service to the customer with all the necessary backroom preparation done by us,” Steve Hartley, co-founder and Executive Director of EAG, said.
Air Works could be looking at raising $35-$50 million capital. There was no talk to divest at the moment, a company official, however, said. While GTI has a stake of about 25 per cent, Punj Lloyd holds around 19 per cent stake in Air Works. The funds will be raised primarily to create an engine-maintenance, repair and overhaul facility.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-business/article3544559.ece

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