JetDirect Aviation For Sale?

[holden1]

I keep hearing this - sounds it is getting sold, anybody know anything?

 

[BayBum37ft]

The 3 FBO's were (are) for sale.

 

[holden1]

The 3 FBO's were (are) for sale.

Interesting, thanks. I had heard the whole company was up for grabs either all-together or piece meal. Who knows how true but I have heard it multiple times.

 

[Globalflyer]

Jet Direct for sale???

In theory, this notion seems plausible. The former parent company sold itself into two entities and no mention was made (that I ever saw) about how the proceeds from the sale were divided. If Sentient took all the money and the new Jet Direct got nothing, they're likely to be still in a world of hurt. Recent posts have described vendor invoices not being paid for individual aircraft and that aircraft were leaving for this reason. If this situation remains today, it's very likely that they are for sale. IMHO...

 

[rice]

In theory, this notion seems plausible. The former parent company sold itself into two entities and no mention was made (that I ever saw) about how the proceeds from the sale were divided. If Sentient took all the money and the new Jet Direct got nothing, they're likely to be still in a world of hurt. Recent posts have described vendor invoices not being paid for individual aircraft and that aircraft were leaving for this reason. If this situation remains today, it's very likely that they are for sale. IMHO...

How could Sentient take all the money????
A little history, JetDirect purchased Sentient a couple of years ago and retained the Sentient name for brand recognition purposes. During this time, Sentient aquired numerous charter companies and their operating certificates.
Recently, after the combined company received a new round of funding from their private investors, JetDirect sold the Sentient Jet Card membership and the AvBuy fuel purchasing program to Mcquarie, an Australian private equity firm.
The proceeds of that sale went to JetDirect and their private investors who still own and operate the aircraft management company, FBO's and I believe the JetCorp 145 repair station.
Due to the fact that JetDirect is a privately held company, details of the sale were not released to the public.

 

[Globalflyer]

That all makes good sense. But it does not explain why owner bills weren't paid to vendors. If I understand correctly, at least a couple of owners, maybe more, left Sentient for this reason. If Sentient/JetDirect got all this money, what happened that they couldn't or wouldn't pay those invoices. This is why I'm guessing (admittedly) that Jet Direct didn't see much of the sale proceeds.

Any thoughts??

 

[54fighting]

I know that just this past week, 9 airplanes gave notice.

 

[Rerouted]

It would make some sense. I'm sure a lot of companies are for sale right now, the more pressing question is: Who is in a position to purchase them? Right now a large, disfunctional aircraft management & charter firm probably wouldn't attract a lot of buyers.

 

[holden1]

It would make some sense. I'm sure a lot of companies are for sale right now, the more pressing question is: Who is in a position to purchase them? Right now a large, disfunctional aircraft management & charter firm probably wouldn't attract a lot of buyers.

It's a good question. I guess I don't know enough about how they are run and what their overall value to someone is.

 

[skipro101]

The official word about the non payment was that they were integrating 5 or 6 accoutning systems and many payments got fumbled because of that.

 

[Globalflyer]

The interesting part to that is that the accounting systems get the blame without any mention of (what appears to be) the fact that they have or had no money to pay the bills with. An attempt at verbal slight of hand??

As for the buyer, it doesn't seem like there'd be many waiting in the wings. Considering the state of the economy as well as the condition of even the largest charter operators, I doubt there's many interested players right now.

Perhaps a private equity group might be interested, particularly because of the cash a charter/management business generates. But they've been pretty well trashed lately. Carlyle Group apparently cancelled orders for a G550 and G450 and one of the principals has his 450 for sale. Not a good sign for that industry.

A fractional like Netjets might be interested in Jet Direct as a strategic move to have a wider base of aircraft to use as backup to the core fleet. This could easily be accomplished by integrating Jet Direct into EJM. But I understand that EJM's charter business is WAY off, reflecting to some extent the slow down at NJA.

The other large fractionals are in no better condition so they don't seem to be likely buyers either. Anyone have any other ideas of who would be interested?

 

[skipro101]

The interesting part to that is that the accounting systems get the blame without any mention of (what appears to be) the fact that they have or had no money to pay the bills with. An attempt at verbal slight of hand??

Unless you are an accountant for Sentient, or part of senior management, what you have said there is pure BS.

Appears to be? How so? Do you actually have any hard evidence? Does it appear to be just because of the bills being late? Could that be so because of problems integrating 6 or 7 different accounting systems?

Look I'm not trying to get into a pissing match but you could be right, you could be wrong. Bottom line is you have no idea and the official word from the company is problems integrating the accounting system....which could explain the late payments.


You are just guessing.