Agility completes £763 million acquisition of Menzies Aviation
New company will have approximately 35,000 employees and operations at 254 airports in 58 countries.
Kuwait-based Agility has finalised the acquisition of UK-based John Menzies PLC,and will combine the business with its subsidiary National Aviation Services (NAS).
"Once integrated, the combined company will operate as Menzies Aviation and will be the world's largest aviation services company by number of countries and second largest by number of airports served," says a release from Agility.
The boards of Agility and Menzies had reached an agreement on March 30 on Agility's cash offer to acquire 100 percent of Menzies ordinary shares for 608 pence a share. The deal values Menzies at approximately £571 million ($670 million) on a fully diluted basis and approximately £763 million ($931 million) on an enterprise value basis.
The combined revenues of Menzies and NAS exceeded $1.5 billion in 2021. The new company will have approximately 35,000 employees and operations at 254 airports in 58 countries, handling 600k aircraft turns, two million tonnes of air cargo and 2.5 million fuelling turns per year, the release said.
Hassan El-Houry, Chairman, Menzies Aviation
"Menzies and NAS will create the world leader in aviation services," says Hassan El-Houry who becomes Chairman of the combined company (having previously held the role of NAS CEO). "We will have the scale and resources to expand and grow as the industry recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic. Commercial aviation is a key engine of global economic growth, and our customers need partners they can count on as flight volumes return."
CEO Philipp Joeinig says: "With the combination of Menzies and NAS, our customers will receive world-class service, expanded product offerings, and the industry's best safety practices at airports on six continents. Agility's backing gives us the resources to provide innovative solutions for growing and forward-thinking customers, and to develop our talent, technology, and sustainability; critical factors for our future success. It also means we are well-positioned to support our customers in tackling supply chain challenges and labour shortages."
Tarek Sultan, Vice Chairman, Agility added: "This is a new chapter for Agility, Menzies, and NAS. By acquiring Menzies and combining it with NAS, Agility has the opportunity to unlock greater value in both. Agility has a strong track record of sustainable and responsible growth over the last two decades, driven both organically and through mergers and acquisitions, and this latest deal is part of our strategy to further accelerate that growth. For Agility, this deal creates the largest owned and operated – "controlled" - business in Agility's portfolio by revenue, headcount, and global presence. We're looking forward to seeing the new Menzies soar with Agility's backing."
The company's customers will include Air Canada, Air China, Air France-KLM, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, EasyJet, Emirates, Ethiopian, FlyDubai, Frontier Airlines, IAG, Jazeera, Qantas Group, Qatar Airways, Southwest, Turkish, United Airlines, WestJet and Wizz Air.