Gama Aviation acquires new business as part of $10m US expansion

Gama Aviation on Thursday purchased a paint and interior completion business currently operated by Lotus Aviation Group at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.

The purchase, part of the aviation services company’s stated $10m investment to scale its US maintenance business, is ideally situated for the outfit’s existing Floridian heavy maintenance locations at Opa Locka and Palm Beach International, according to a statement from Gama.

Dennis Richey, president of Gama's US ground division, said: "This facility adds two new lines of business providing customers with the opportunity to work with a single provider across all major through-the-life maintenance events from unscheduled AOGs, to heavy, base maintenance and now interiors and paint."

The AIM traded company’s most recent update stated that its US operations had delivered “strong organic growth and solid productivity” but had still fallen short of the board’s expectations.

The newly acquired business has served clients from across the US, Central & South America from its maintenance hangar, paint hangar, upholstery shop and wood shop/clear coat spray shop at Fort Lauderdale Airport.

Rajeev Singh, president and chief executive of Lotus Aviation, said: "I'm immensely proud of what we have built at Lotus Aviation Group and very excited for our future with Gama Aviation. In recent years, we have seen business aviation maintenance buyers evolving from using a large, fragmented supplier base to much more capable integrated maintenance networks."

Gama Aviation’s shares were unchanged at 115.00p at 1619 GMT.