The acquisition of Air Transport Services Group clearly indicates Stonepeak’s unwavering commitment to investing in critical infrastructure. This New York-based investment firm, with its strategic vision, sees the logistics sector as increasingly important due to the growing popularity and complexity of online shopping. Its pursuit of ATSG is not just a business move, but a strategic alignment with Stonepeak’s broader mission of investing in critical infrastructure.
The company, founded in 1980 and headquartered in Wilmington, Ohio, offers aircraft leasing and cargo transportation services. Its fleet of 134 freighters includes Boeing 767 and Airbus A321 models, and it counts retail giant Amazon as one of its primary customers. In its last quarterly report, ATSG reported an 8% decline in revenue and a pretax loss of $7 million due to reduced aircraft leasing by some significant clients. The company, however, expects demand to rebound in upcoming quarters.
Despite ATSG’s shares falling around 26% this year, there is potential for a positive turn. The stock could benefit from the acquisition interest from a significant investor like Stonepeak. With Stonepeak’s $70 billion in assets under management and its successful investments in other logistics companies, including Textainer Group and Lineage, it is possible for ATSG’s stock to rebound.
The sources said the deal for ATSG is expected to close in the second quarter of next year. The price is expected to be about $22.50 per share, representing a premium of nearly 30% to the company’s closing price on Friday. The company has about 1.2 billion shares outstanding.
Earlier this month, Stonepeak also diversified its portfolio by investing in Intrado, which operates 911 infrastructure in the United States. Intrado’s Safety business provides a highly reliable, secure, and standards-based network that connects citizens with public safety answering points and first responders. The company has over 3.1 million wireless sites, 2.5 billion telephone numbers, 13,600 PSAP seats, and extensive metro, long haul, and subsea fiber networks.
Luke is co-president of Stonepeak and a member of the firm’s investment committees. He has more than 20 years of experience investing across the infrastructure space. He joined Stonepeak from Macquarie Capital as a Senior Vice President and established Macquarie’s infrastructure funds management business in Asia.
ATSG is scheduled to report its third-quarter earnings on Friday. The company is expected to post EPS of $1.
Intrado’s Safety business is the foundation for 911 infrastructure in the United States, efficiently connecting citizens with public safety answering points (PSAPs) and first responders through a highly reliable, secure, and standards-based network. The company has over 3.1 million Wireless sites, 2.5 billion telephone numbers, 13,600 public safety answering points (PSAPs) seats, and expansive metro, long haul, and subsea cable networks. The company also has a significant cloud and data center footprint in the United States. Its network delivers critical emergency data over a highly reliable, resilient, standards-based platform that serves 3.1 million wireless sites, 2.5 billion telephone and VoIP services, residential broadband networks, and cloud and data center facilities. Its network also enables critical communications and infrastructure, including 5G wireless infrastructure, and supports data center security, cloud, and telecom services.
