ATSG Completes Sale of Omni Air International to OAI Holdings
Why It MattersThe sale shows a cargo-and-leasing group shedding a passenger ACMI airline to concentrate on freight, while the buyer's backers include the airline's founder and a former Sun Country chief executive.
What happened
Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) has completed the sale of Omni Air International to privately held OAI Holdings LLC. The price was not disclosed. Omni is a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based provider of passenger charter and aircraft leasing services, and the deal follows ATSG's previously announced plan to explore strategic alternatives for the business.
Omni operates a fleet of Boeing 767 and 777 aircraft and sells aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI) leasing and charter services to U.S. and allied governments, commercial airlines and other customers worldwide. It is headquartered at Tulsa International Airport and operates under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 121 certification.
OAI Holdings is backed by an investor group that includes Rob Coretz, Omni's founder, and Jude Bricker, former president and chief executive officer of Sun Country Airlines. ATSG President and CEO Greg Mays said: "We are pleased to have completed this transaction after having explored strategic options for Omni for some time. We are confident Omni has a bright future ahead as it continues to serve its customers under OAI." He described the divestiture as following an extended review of the company's strategic options for Omni.
With the sale complete, ATSG's operations sit on two platforms: aircraft leasing, and airlines and services. The company provides cargo aircraft leasing, air transportation, aircraft maintenance, ground handling and logistics services. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC advised ATSG financially, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Hogan Lovells Cadwalader US LLP as legal counsel. BDT & MSD Partners advised OAI Holdings financially, and Spencer Fane LLP acted as its legal counsel.
Industry impact & what to watch
ACMI and charter providers selling government and airline customers a wide-body aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance package run a different business from cargo leasing and freight operations. A parent whose growth case rests on cargo can find a passenger ACMI airline sitting outside that case, and a sale to investors who know the business is one way such a portfolio gets simplified.
The buyer group is notable for its continuity. Omni's founder is among the backers, so the airline moves out of a listed cargo group's portfolio with the person who built it back in the ownership structure, alongside an executive who previously led a U.S. passenger airline. For customers contracting wide-body capacity from Omni, the aircraft, certification and base described above are unchanged by the sale itself.
The price, the financing and OAI Holdings' plans for the fleet were not disclosed. Statements from OAI Holdings on Omni's customers and operations would be the next thing to settle how much changes under the new owner.
