FirstFlight, Inc. (OTC BB: FFLT) announced today that it has completed
its acquisition of privately held charter operator, New World Jet
Corporation, based in the greater New York City area. FirstFlight had
previously announced the execution of a definitive agreement in
connection with the acquisition.
The combined aircraft fleet will place FirstFlight among the top jet
aircraft charter management companies in the United States and extend
FirstFlight’s geographic footprint with
predominantly large- and mid-cabin jets.
"FirstFlight and New World Jet share the same values and both companies
have excellent reputations in the industry,”
stated John Dow, Chief Executive Officer of FirstFlight. “As
a combined team, we intend to continue to provide our clients with the
same high level of service while offering the benefits we expect to
derive from economies of scale. Although we will be making a number of
internal organizational changes as we combine our companies, it is our
goal to make certain that the only changes our customers will experience
are positive. We also intend to maintain the working relationship New
World Jet has established with Jet Aviation and other industry contacts.”
As part of the transaction, FirstFlight made a cash payment of $120,000,
assumed a working capital deficit of up to $250,000, and agreed to
future cash payments tied to the performance of acquired and referred
aircraft. FirstFlight also issued a five-year warrant to purchase up to
2,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock
at an exercise price of $0.50 per share. The vesting of the warrant is
contingent on the total number of aircraft that are retained on New World’s
or FirstFlight’s charter air carrier
certificate.
Keith Bleier, Chief Financial Officer of FirstFlight added, “Over
the next six to twelve months, we will work closely with New World Jet
personnel to transition aircraft and identify the best and most
efficient allocation of resources. The closing of our acquisition of New
World Jet is a major step in FirstFlight’s
recent growth initiatives and increases our presence in strategic
markets. We expect the New World transaction to be accretive to earnings
within the next few quarters.”
About FirstFlight, Inc.
FirstFlight is an aviation services company. FirstFlight’s
operations are conducted in three core segments: aircraft charter
management activities; fixed based operations; and aircraft maintenance.
FirstFlight’s charter management segment
provides on-call passenger air transportation. FirstFlight’s
fixed base operation segment is the primary provider of services such as
fueling and hangaring of private/general aviation aircraft operators.
FirstFlight’s aircraft maintenance business
is conducted at FirstFlight’s
FAA-certificated facilities. FirstFlight maintains a website located at www.FFLT.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release may include projections of future results and other “forward-looking
statements”, as that term is defined in
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking
statements can be identified by words such as “expect”,
“intend”, “believe”,
“plan”, “anticipate”
and similar words and phrases. All statements that are included in this
release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking
statements. Although the management of FirstFlight believes that the
expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are
reasonable, there are no assurances that such expectations will prove to
have been correct. FirstFlight disclaims any obligation to update any of
its forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
FirstFlight, Inc.
Ron Ricciardi, 570-457-3400
or
Investor
Relations:
Porter, LeVay & Rose, Inc.
Linda Decker, VP –
Investor Relations
Jeffrey Myhre, VP –
Editorial
212-564-4700
