Exclusive: BBA Aviation eyes acquisition of Landmark Aviation - sources

By Mike Stone and Greg Roumeliotis

(Reuters) - British aircraft services company BBA Aviation Plc is in talks to acquire U.S. competitor Landmark Aviation, which could be valued at more than $2 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.

BBA is participating in a sale process for Landmark Aviation, which owned by private equity firm Carlyle Group LP and has attracted several bidders, including buyout firms, the people said this week.

The sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations are not public. BBA Aviation and Carlyle declined to comment, while Landmark Aviation did not respond to a request for comment.

 

Landmark Aviation has been exploring a sale as the corporate jet market is slowly recovering from a downturn sparked by the global financial crisis, helping valuations for companies offering services to that industry.

Houston, Texas-based Landmark Aviation provides engine maintenance, repair and overhaul, and nose-to-tail services that

include airframe, interior refurbishments, paint and charter management for private aircraft.

A peer of Landmark Aviation, Scottsdale, Arizona-based aircraft maintenance services company StandardAero, was sold by Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Ltd to buyout firm Veritas Capital Fund Management LLC in July for $2.1 billion.

London-based BBA, which has a market capitalization of about 1.3 billion pounds ($2 billion), has also been acquisitive in the United States, with several smaller acquisitions of on-airport facilities servicing corporate jets in the Boston, Massachusetts, and Detroit, Michigan, areas in recent years.

(This story corrects BBA's market capitalisation to pounds instead of dollars in last paragraph)

(Reporting by Mike Stone and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)