Macquarie's expensive expansion

The most recent Securities and Exchange Commission quarterly 10-Q report filed by publicly traded Macquarie Group revealed that the company is paying $85 million to buy two FBOs, the Supermarine facilities at Santa Monica Airport in California and at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, N.Y. The company is also setting aside an additional $4.5 million to cover transaction and integration costs and reserve funding.

Macquarie owns the Atlantic Aviation FBO chain and recently announced that it expects to close the $456.2 million purchase of Allied Capital’s Mercury Air Centers FBO chain in the third quarter. Average price for the 24 Allied Capital FBOs is $19 million each. Although Macquarie’s 10-Q filing mentions some risk factors to the company, it doesn’t address problems at Santa Monica Airport that might limit jet operations.