Las Vegas, Nevada

Gama Aviation sells Jet East to West Star Aviation for $131m

Gama Aviation has conditionally agreed to sell its US MRO business, Gama Aviation (Eng) Inc. - trading as Jet East - to West Star Aviation for a value of approximately $131m. Net proceeds from the sale are approximately $100 million.

“After interest from several parties, we are delighted to have agreed the sale of Jet East to West Star Aviation," said Gama Aviation CEO, Marwan Khalek. "I believe the new owner will be an excellent guardian of our valued strategic relationships and, importantly, the people that deliver critical services to our customers every day.

“The Board and I have long since believed that the Group has significant underlying value and the resultant proceeds from this transaction clearly affirm this perspective. Collectively we will now consider how the net proceeds of the transaction will be deployed to further the strategic ambitions of the Group, support the continued hard work of our talented teams as well as rewarding the loyalty and support of our Shareholders from this significant value realisation event.

Khalek continued: “This deal provides Gama Aviation the appropriate capital to allow us to capture the tremendous opportunities we have in our Special Mission, Technology & Outsourcing and Business Aviation strategic business units. It is an exciting new chapter for us all as we celebrate our 40th anniversary as a business.

“Finally, I would like to thank the entire Jet East team for their considerable efforts and achievements under the leadership of Stephen Maiden. We wish them continued success as they embark on their own new chapter.”

Gama Aviation bought Jet East for $11.9m in January 2021, following the 2020 disposal of its US aircraft management business to WheelsUp.

Jet East has subsequently performed strongly, benefitting from a highly committed management team, a complementary nationwide network of operations, strong customer relationships and cost savings from rationalisation of operations. There has also been considerable investment totalling some $25m to enable growth including setting up new facilities in Millville, Las Vegas and Statesville.

In 2022, Jet East reported revenues of $118.2m and earnings of $1.3m.