• Bond Aviation Group becomes an integral part of World Helicopters, together with the Inaer Helicopter Company and Australian Helicopters.
• Creates the world leader in the emergency helicopter services industry.
• Creates a leading player in the international oil and gas helicopter services industry.
• World Helicopters will operate ca. 360 aircrafts (rotary and fixed wing).

World Helicopters, the holding company of Grupo Inaer (“Inaer”), owned by Investindustrial and KKR, today announces the successful acquisition of Bond Aviation Group (“Bond), the UK’s largest independent emergency and mission critical helicopter operator.

With over 40 helicopters, Bond provides onshore and offshore helicopter services to the emergency services, police and oil and gas operators.  Inaer, with ca. 320 aircraft (273 rotary and 47 fixed wing), is the leading global provider of mission critical helicopter services and has operations in Europe, Australia, North Africa and south America.

Peter and Stephen Bond have made a substantial financial investment into the World Helicopter Group and will both have executive seats on the World Helicopters Board.

Peter Bond will remain Chairman of the Bond Aviation Group and the Bond operations brand will continue as will the current senior management team in Bond Offshore helicopters and Bond Air Services.

Peter Bond, executive Chairman of Bond Helicopters, said: “Bond is a perfect fit with Inaer.  Both share the same entrepreneurial spirit and are complementary on both a geographical and fleet basis.  We are excited about the prospects that World Helicopters brings with its strong capital base for the continued successful expansion and operation of Bond Air Services and Bond Offshore Helicopters, ensuring the highest levels of service provision and flexibility to meet our customers’ requirements.  Furthermore, the resulting Group will leverage on its enlarged size to stay at the forefront in terms of safety, technology advances and fleet capabilities”.

Luis Minano, Executive Chairman of Inaer, commented: “We are delighted to have completed this integration which provides us with a strong platform for growth in the fast growing international emergency services market.  In the last five years we have built Inaer into a leader in terms of quality, safety and reliability serving governments, local authorities, commercial clients and the public in saving lives and protecting the environment.  This acquisition provides us with access to a strong management team and further opportunities to extend our safety and training investments to support our clients.  The two entities will operate ca. 360 aircraft worldwide”.

Notes

• Bond Aviation (www.bondairservices.com; www.bondoffshorehelicopters.com): Bond operates in the UK and Ireland.  The company has a fleet of 40 helicopters including 10 heavy aircraft, an area where Inaer is currently not present, but sees considerable future growth potential.  In emergency services Bond Aviation is responsible for air ambulance helicopter services, police support and marine support to offshore wind farms and lighthouses.  In the oil and gas segment the Company provides primarily mission critical crew change and search and rescue services.
• Inaer (www.inaer.com) : In the last five years Inaer has seen compound annual revenue growth of 24%.  Over the same period Inaer has invested more than €300 million in its ca. 320 aircraft to ensure that it has the most modern and responsive fleet.  With safety being of paramount importance, the Group has also invested a considerable share of its revenues in its own training centres and has the latest state of the airt simulator.