Bristow Group is on the hunt for companies to buy. CFO Jonathan Baliff is quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying that the company has the biggest merger and acquisition war chest in the industry globally.  He also believes that there is mounting pressures in the industry for consolidation.

“It’s a very fragmented industry,” says Baliff. “Eurocopter has 3,000 clients. But 85% of those are operators with five or less aircraft. I don’t think investors want us to buy up the ‘mom n pop’ operators, but there is no doubt that we can consolidate regionally.

Bristow has historically been seen as an offshore operator, but took a different angle when purchasing Florida-based Helicopter Adventures, renaming it Bristow Academy.  It now operates 52 helicopters in Florida and others from locations in Louisiana and the UK, part of the group global fleet which currently numbers 534 helicopters and 40 fixed wing – December 2010 figures including the aircraft of unconsolidated affiliates and joint venture partners.

Watch this space!.  If you are bigger than one of Baliff’s “mom ‘n pop” companies, you may want to send your company’s sales prospectus to Bristow!

Jeremy Parkin – HeliHub.com