CHC Helicopter Group (CHC) has completed of its acquisition of Babcock International’s offshore oil-and-gas aviation business, headquartered in Aberdeen, Scotland. The acquisition expands CHC’s fleet by 30 aircraft across the UK, Denmark, and Australia. Babcock’s operations there will be held separately and operate independently, while CHC seeks merger approval from competition authorities in the UK and Australia.
The deal was first announced in March and followed more than a year of industry speculation that aviation, energy, and defense conglomerate Babcock International was looking to unload the unprofitable unit, formerly known as Bond Helicopters. In 2020, parent Babcock International took a $118.5 million charge related to its offshore aviation business and then-CEO Archie Bethel said the company was “restructuring our aviation sector to address the cost-base as the oil-and-gas revenues reduce.”
CHC CEO David Balevic said the acquisition “is a great success, opening new and broader opportunities for CHC both in existing markets like Australia and the North Sea” and “further cements CHC’s position as one of the world’s leading providers of helicopter transportation to oil-and-gas, search-and-rescue, and renewables customers.”