Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised Ultimate Aviation Group on its acquisition of leading North Sea helicopter services provider Offshore Helicopter Services UK (“OHS UK”) from CHC Helicopter Group (“CHC”). The sale completed on 1 April 2023.
In August 2022, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) required CHC to divest itself of OHS UK and an auction process began for them to do so. The CMA imposed a strict timetable for the divestment to be completed and the sale and purchase agreement was signed on 30 December 2022 under which CHC agreed to sell OHS UK to Ultimate Aviation Group subject to customary condition to completion. CHC retains its existing UK offshore oil and gas aviation business through CHC Scotia.
Ultimate Aviation Group is a prominent aviation industry player headquartered in South Africa, specialising in cargo and passenger air transport in remote environments, extensive scientific support flights in Antarctica, humanitarian aid areas and disaster relief sectors.
The WFW London Corporate team advising Ultimate Aviation Group was led by Partner Mark Tooke, working closely with Senior Associate Rohan Inamdar, Associate Jeremy Chiew and Trainee Jude Boateng. Partner Solange Leandro and Associate Lauren Buchan advised on competition law and regulatory matters, with aviation finance expertise provided by Senior Associate Liam Clozier.
Mark commented: “This was a key transaction for Ultimate Aviation Group and one that required flexibility and collaborative problem solving, in particular to ensure that competition and regulatory requirements were satisfied and deal-related contractual obligations to customers and financing partners were observed. We are delighted that were able to help close this transaction for our client within the very tight timeframe required by the CMA, highlighting our ability to provide first-rate corporate and M&A advice and the depth and breadth of WFW’s market-leading Aviation practice”.
