AAR has acquired HAECO Americas in a $78 million all-cash transaction, creating a major force in the MRO sector.
The acquisition expands AAR's heavy maintenance footprint and accelerates the company's strategic objective to grow its Repair & Engineering segment.
The purchase price represents a high single-digit multiple of HAECO Americas' last twelve months' EBITDA, AAR added.
HAECO Americas is currently the second largest heavy maintenance provider in North America behind AAR.
Its provides heavy aircraft MRO and modification services to major airlines at two facilities, one in Greensboro, North Carolina, and one in Lake City, Florida.
John M. Holmes, chair, president and CEO of AAR, said that has AAR secured $850m of sales agreements over a multi-year period as a result of the transaction.
“These agreements, which effectively sell out the two HAECO Americas facilities, reflect strong demand and our close customer relationships,” he said.
“Moreover, these new facilities will allow us to further optimize our North American footprint, which we expect will lead to incremental margin expansion overall for our Repair & Engineering segment as we execute the integration."
HAECO Americas' more than 1,600 staff will bring a wide range of technical experience on airline and cargo aircraft, AAR said.
The workforce, which is composed of 30% veterans, has focused on serving as centres of excellence and has performed maintenance on thousands of aircraft over a period of decades.