St. Louis, MO November 06, 2023
West Star Aviation (“West Star”), a portfolio company of The Sterling Group, has announced that it has acquired Jet East. West Star is a leading provider of maintenance, repair, and overhaul (“MRO”) services to the business aviation industry providing maintenance, modification, and other services to aviation customers. Jet East provides MRO services as well and focuses on supporting fractional and managed fleet operators. Capabilities include an expansive ‘Aircraft on Ground’ (“AOG”) mobile repair technician network, line maintenance operations, heavy maintenance facilities, and other complementary services.
“I’m extremely happy to welcome the Jet East employees to West Star. Both West Star and Jet East are remarkable companies with strong and unique cultures,” said Jim Rankin, CEO of West Star Aviation. “I’m looking forward to bringing the Jet East and West Star teams together as we build the premier Business Aviation Maintenance provider in the industry. Our focus now is to use this combination to better serve our customers and support our employees.”
“I am thrilled about this new chapter for the combined company of West Star and Jet East. With the official close, we are provided a unique opportunity to enhance our capabilities and expand our offerings to better serve the needs of the aviation industry. As we turn our attention toward the exciting task of strategic integration, we remain committed to our customers so there is no disruption to the service that we provide. I am proud of what has been accomplished and excited about the future,” said Stephen Maiden, CEO of Jet East.
“We were thrilled to help play a part in bringing together these two world class teams to combine complementary capabilities, geographies, and customer bases. We couldn’t be more excited in welcoming the entire Jet East family to West Star,” added Greg Elliott and John Griffin, Board Members of West Star Aviation.
This partnership will bring together two of the best teams in business aviation that together will become stronger through added scale and expanded capabilities. Customers and vendors should expect no change while leaders of each organization work together on longer-term integration planning.
Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal counsel and Jefferies, LLC served as a financial advisor to West Star.
About West Star Aviation
West Star Aviation specializes in airframe repair and maintenance, engine repair and maintenance, major modifications, avionics installation and repair, interior refurbishment, paint, parts, surplus avionics sales, window repair and accessory services. The company also provides complete FBO services for transient aircraft at its East Alton and Grand Junction facilities. West Star provides services at four primary locations in East Alton, Illinois; Grand Junction, Colorado; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Perryville, Missouri, as well as fifteen mobile repair bases and satellite MRO facilities. West Star also provides parts distribution and composite repair services through its Avant and DAS businesses respectively. For more information, please visit weststaraviation.com.
About Jet East, a Gama Aviation Company
Jet East, A Gama Aviation Company, is one of the nation’s leading aviation maintenance providers. The company specializes in scheduled maintenance, on-demand mobile maintenance for unscheduled events, paint and interior completions and provides related services in the areas of structural repairs, composite work, and non-destructive testing (NDT). With a deeply talented workforce, Jet East is available to meet customer maintenance needs with on-demand service and coast to coast coverage in the U.S and in certain international markets. An expansive AOG Mobile Maintenance team operates with a 24/7 Dispatch Team and compliments the company’s maintenance hangars in North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, California, Illinois, and Nevada. For more information, please visit jeteastgama.com.
About The Sterling Group
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from $100 million to $1 billion. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 67 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $22.0 billion. Sterling currently has over $6.1 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss.
The Sterling Group is an operationally focused middle market private equity firm that builds winning businesses for customers, employees and investors.
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