Chorus Aviation has successfully closed its acquisition of 519222 Ontario Limited, a holding company that owns Voyageur Airways Limited and its related companies (Voyageur), a leading provider of specialized aviation services with international operations. The acquisition was first announced on March 12, 2015.
The purchase price, on a cash free/debt free basis, represents a total enterprise value of approximately $80 million and is subject to certain post-closing working capital adjustments. Utilizing cash on hand, Chorus paid $47.0 million and issued $8.0 million in Chorus Class B Voting Shares to Max Shapiro, sole owner of Voyageur. Approximately $25 million in deferred cash payments will be paid in separate installments over the next 36 month period. The $80 million purchase price is supported by the appraised value of Voyageur's owned aircraft, real estate and working capital.
The $80 million purchase price represented an attractive multiple of approximately 4.7 times 2014's adjusted EBITDA, and is immediately accretive to Chorus' consolidated earnings and free cash flow.
Voyageur, a Transport Canada approved air operator, is an integrated provider of specialized aviation services, including contract flying operations both internationally and domestically, and offers advanced engineering and maintenance capabilities. Voyageur was founded almost 50 years ago in 1968, and is a private company headquartered at its 200,000 square foot facility in North Bay, Ontario. The company primarily operates within two aviation services sectors:
RBC Capital Markets acted as exclusive financial advisor to Chorus on the transaction, and Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt acted as legal advisor to Chorus. Gowling, Lafleur, Henderson acted as legal advisor to Voyageur.