Jetrader - March/April 2008 - 15

The ACG-leased Jet Airways MSN 36846 J: Did you encounter many problems after the acquisition? SH: When one acquires another company, integration is always an issue—however, it went better than planned. We were fully integrated with all their systems and all their technical data within one month of acquisition. We completed a full tax cycle and a full audit cycle within nine months of closing. We had estimated that it would take us 18 months for integration, but we completed the integration in half the time. We were able to achieve this smooth integration because we had fully automated our systems in 2000 when we became a part of the PL family. The systems that our guys built dovetailed with PL’s real estate operations and were very sophisticated. We had a scalable system, but we didn’t realize how scalable until we made this acquisition that immediately doubled our portfolio. J: What recent undertakings has the company been involved with lately? SH: Beginning in 2006, ACG placed a series of new aircraft orders, ﬁ rst with Boeing and then with Airbus. There were several factors that encouraged us to make this step; we gained conﬁdence in managing the 14 new orders we acquired from Boullioun, learned how to deal with buyer-furnished equipment and subcontractors, learned how to deal with galleys and learned how to build relationships with the various manufacturers. At the same time there were several new leasing companies that had entered the business. These companies’ need to acquire aircraft challenged the traditional sale/leaseback model that we had used for quite a few years. The prices that were paid for aircraft became very, very aggressive and, frankly, they were too rich for us. Hence, we were faced with an inconsistent ﬂow of product for our customers and an inability to grow our portfolio if we didn’t change our acquisition strategy. Additionally, PL had become very comfortable with our business model and they encouraged us to make these commitments and accept the risk. Today, we have over 100 aircraft on order. While these new orders were for single aisle aircraft we also placed our ﬁ rst order for twinaisle aircraft. Photo by Konstantin Von Wedelstaedt Air Cargo Management Group ACMG The 6th Annual April 22-24, 2008 Spirit of a Small Firm Power of a Large Firm With 62 commercial aviation transactions involving the lease, sale or ﬁnancing of 109 aircraft in 2005, 63 commercial aviation transactions involving the lease, sale or ﬁnancing of 159 aircraft in 2006, and 56 commercial aviation transactions involving the lease, sale or ﬁnancing of 191 aircraft in 2007, we understand this industry like no other. We love aviation and believe that our passion for the industry is reﬂected in the services we provide to our clients. Let us make transactions ﬂy more smoothly for you. Robert Faﬁnski Minneapolis, Minnesota www.fmjlaw.com (952) 995-9500 Air Cargo, Express, & Freighter Aircraft Workshop Grand Hyatt - Seattle, Washington A focused 1½ day interactive seminar for industry suppliers, ﬁnancial analysts and airline innovators. For more information or to register: www.cargofacts.com 366793_aircargo.indd 1 Fafinski_editorial.indd 1 2/7/08 8:09:31 AM Jetrader 15 2/14/08 1:24:08 PM

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Jetrader - March/April 2008

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