Transaction management group Multi Service Technology Services has acquired a majority stake in online charter portal Avinode. The deal was announced on Monday morning and includes Avinode’s flight scheduling software subsidiary SchedAero.
The value of the transaction was not disclosed, but Avinode’s founders are retaining a minority stake. Avinode co-founder and CEO Niklas Berg told AIN that the management team will remain in place and that the company remains committed to a purely business-to-business model in which charter operators and brokers use the system to market flights to their customers.
“We have been approached many times [about a possible investment] by different financial and industrial players and we always said ‘no,'” said Berg. “Then our board challenged us to consider what might happen if we brought in a strong financial partner and how the company might benefit from it.” Avinode was eager to find an investor that would not compromise Avinode’s neutral position in the market, by avoiding any competitive conflict of interest.
Earlier this year, Avinode sold risk management and safety audit specialist Wyvern Consulting to flight support group Nexus. Berg said this move was part of a plan to focus more intently on developing the Avinode and SchedAero products. “We want to be sure that Avinode is the need-to-have distribution system for charter operators and brokers, and that SchedAero is the best possible web-based flight scheduling system,” he explained.
“Avinode represents a best-in-class offering that brings exciting technological advances to this important sector of the industry,” commented Multi Service COO Brandon Spears. “This will be a key strategic addition to our product offering and yet another way to add value for our customers in the general aviation industry.”