Private jets are handy in a pandemic
Zoom video calls have replaced business meetings, the Davos World Economic Forum is taking place online, and booking a holiday overseas involves navigating a bewildering array of travel restrictions, virus testing and quarantine requirements. Why then are Bill Gates and Blackstone Group Inc. teaming up to buy a company that makes much of its money refueling private jets? Blackstone and Gates’s Cascade Investment LLC are weighing a takeover offer of at least $5.17 a share, or $4.3 billion before debt, for Signature Aviation Plc, which also provides passenger amenities and technical support for business jets. The bidding group will most likely need to raise its offer to seal the deal after Global Infrastructure Partners made a $5.50-a-share proposal, but Cascade’s preexisting 19% stake in Signature gives the Blackstone team a significant edge.
Blackstone is renowned for bold bets like the one it made on U.S. residential real estate in the wake of the 2008 recession. But servicing private jets is more of a sure thing. Global airline passenger traffic collapsed 66% last year through November, according to the International Air Transport Association. In contrast, private-jet activity was down just 11% in December, the best monthly performance since the pandemic began, according to data from WingX, an aviation data and consultancy company.
