82.1 F
San Fernando
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Maguire Aviation Acquisitions Expand Van Nuys Presence

For years the Maguire name has been associated with real estate in downtown Los Angeles. Now that same connection can be made at Van Nuys Airport. Gaining a foothold at the San Fernando Valley airfield in 2006 with the purchase of Petersen Aviation, Maguire expanded its presence through the recent acquisition of two fixed-base operations with combined development rights to build a half million square feet of hangar and office space. Gone from the airport are Skytrails Aviation and Million Air, both now operating as Maguire Aviation. For Maguire, flying itself is of little importance. Instead, the company positions itself as an aviation real estate developer. Maguire dropped the long-standing charter service operated by Petersen after the purchase of that company to focus on leasing hangar and office space, selling fuel and performing minor maintenance. With SkyTrails, Maguire not only receives common ramp space at the south end of the airport but development rights for 200,000 square feet of facility space. Million Air, a franchised operator bought out in October from long-time owner Harold Lee, has the development rights to construct 300,000 square feet for aviation uses. “We are always interested in developing more hangar space,” said Tim Wray, chief operating officer of Maguire Aviation. Construction on a 25,000 square foot building on the former Skytrails property will proceed according to the plans of its founder and former owner Mark Sullivan. Why all this activity is taking place now can be summed up in the approval of a master plan for the airport. With that 2006 document in place and disputes settled between long-term lease holders and Los Angeles World Airports, the shackles on development came off. Along with the new Maguire hangar, charter and fixed-base operators have big plans for the airport. The Air Group and TWC Aviation will construct new hangar and office space. Elite Aviation eyes a new facility as well on the eight acres of the old Jet Center property. And Pentastar Aviation began operating its fixed-base operations in temporary quarters while finalizing the development of 14 acres on Roscoe Boulevard. Maguire’s plans fall square into the middle of all that activity. Acquiring Million Air and Skytrails now makes Maguire the largest lease holder at the airport. The move also reduces from six to four the number of fixed-base operators located there. “This consolidation is good,” Wray said. “It should make all the FBOs at Van Nuys financially more strong and be able to offer more facilities to the flying public.” Farewell to Family Businesses Former Skytrails owner Sullivan was not looking to sell the business he founded in 1985. It was Maguire who approached him some months back about selling and only in December was a deal reached that was satisfactory to both sides. Sullivan remains at the helm of his former company through the transition period. SkyTrails started from scratch, built on what was then an open field at the airport. The firm began by leasing hangar space and tie-downs for propeller aircraft but as the business jet industry began to take off, Sullivan switched gears and began to cater to those planes. The biggest contributor to the popularity of flying in a private aircraft has been the commercial air carriers, Sullivan said. “Our biggest sales people are the airlines,” Sullivan said. “It’s awful to go from point A to point B on the airlines today.” The sale of SkyTrails and Million Air signals a move away from the local, independent ownership of aviation service businesses. He and Clay Lacy, owner of his eponymous charter company, may be the last of the family-owned aviation businesses at Van Nuys, Sullivan said. With business aviation generating revenues into the billions annually, it now takes the deep pockets of a Maguire to keep up with the competition. Private equity realized the value of FBOs and began to stake their own claim in the aviation industry. In April 2006, Macquarie Infrastructure Co. paid $338 million to acquire Trajen Holdings, Inc., owner and operator of 21 FBOs in 11 states. Through various acquisitions, equity firm The Carlyle Group cobbled together Landmark Aviation with a network of 35 fixed base operations. The former Raytheon fixed-base operation at Van Nuys was sold in late 2006 as part of a $3.3 billion deal by a private equity firm formed by Goldman, Sachs and Onex Partners’ affiliate GS Capital Partners to acquire Raytheon’s aircraft division. That facility now operates under the Hawker Beechcraft name. Maguire’s initial purchase at Van Nuys was for a 12,000 square foot terminal and hangar space totaling 76,000 square feet on just more than 9 acres. The company plans $2 million in improvements to the hangars and offices in 2008.

Featured Articles

Related Articles