Erickson Air-Crane buys Evergreen Helicopters

Erickson Air-Crane Incorporated announced that it has executed a stock purchase agreement for the purchase of Evergreen Helicopters from Evergreen International Aviation.

At closing, this transaction would provide Erickson Air-Crane with an incremental fleet of 64 aircraft, consisting of both helicopters and fixed-wing airplanes.

Udo Rieder, president and chief executive officer of Erickson Air-Crane, said: “We are very excited to be on the cusp of truly transforming our business. We are successfully transcending our market position as a leader in heavy-lift operations to build a diverse, global aviation services provider. Our combined company will offer a comprehensive set of capabilities, a world-class customer base, a diverse portfolio of aircraft, and the ability to service nearly every corner of the globe.”

Under the terms of the purchase agreement, Evergreen Helicopters is being acquired from Evergreen International Aviation for $250.0 million.

Rieder remarked, “At a purchase price multiple of less than 5.0x EHI’s 2012 Adjusted EBITDA, the acquisition of EHI is expected to be immediately accretive to EAC’s earnings per share.”

The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2013.

The combination of Erickson Air-Crane’s stand-alone business with the planned acquisitions of Air Amazonia and Evergreen Helicopters would, if both transactions close, create a business with pro forma 2012 revenues of approximately $430 million and EBITDA margins of approximately 25%. The combined business would operate a diverse fleet of 100 aircraft.

Rieder commented, “We believe that there are significant opportunities for incremental growth and efficiency embedded within the global operational platform we are assembling. We view these acquisitions as complementary and highly synergistic, and we are looking forward to taking the necessary steps to close the transactions during the second quarter of 2013. The combination of these three businesses would diversify our end-markets, regions serviced, mission capabilities and aircraft types. In addition to significant growth, we believe the combinations carry significant hard cost synergies that could be leveraged throughout the system to increase efficiency, fleet and MRO capacity utilization, and overall economies of scale.”

Rieder concluded, “As we look to the future of our company it is clear that we have begun a new chapter. Never has our vision been broader, our opportunities greater, or our missions more important. Together, our combined companies will leverage our exceptional talent, existing infrastructure, and proven track record of operational efficiency and fleet utilization to better serve our customers and create greater opportunities for our collective vendors and employees. We look forward to welcoming the employees and partners of Air Amazonia and EHI to the Erickson Air-Crane team and we are both grateful and pleased for the ongoing support we receive from our employees, customers, partners and shareholders. We believe our strategy positions us to continue to create value for each of these important constituencies both immediately and over the long-term.”