TSL Express Daily News

New investment positions the company for long-term growth   

Marathon Asset Management LP ("Marathon") today announced the closing of a $155 million senior credit facility to Avenger Flight Group LLC ("AFG" or the "Company"), a leading independent provider of enterprise flight training solutions to aviation clients worldwide. Marathon anchored the loan alongside three other investment management firms. Proceeds from the financing repaid existing indebtedness and equipped the Company with growth capital as the aviation industry rebounds from the pandemic. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, AFG serves the global aviation market by offering Full Flight Simulator (FFS) pilot training at its 12 flight training centers in the United States, Latin America and Europe. AFG's focus on high-quality customer service has made it the training partner of choice for a range of customers including low-cost carriers, traditional airlines, cargo transport companies and flight academy customers.

"AFG is an attractive business with a passionate and committed management team," said Michael Alexander, a Managing Director at Marathon. "We believe that AFG has strong growth prospects as airlines ramp up pilot training in anticipation of increased air traffic and as a looming US pilot shortage underpins a secular bull market for flight training companies."

"We are thrilled to partner with Marathon, and we appreciate their confidence in AFG as the sector's most trusted aviation training organization," said Pedro Sors, President & CEO of AFG. "This transaction gives us the flexibility to implement our business development plan, which will deliver mission-critical flight training services to clients worldwide as the aviation industry is poised to begin an unprecedented global rebound."

"We are very excited to welcome AFG into our portfolio of private credit investments," said Jordan Bryk, a Managing Director at Marathon leading its Capital Solutions platform. "This investment is emblematic of how our capital can help high-quality businesses overcome near-term obstacles and position them for long-term growth."

About Marathon Asset Management LP

Marathon Asset Management LP is a global credit manager with $22 billion in assets under management. The firm was formed in 1998 by Chairman & CEO Bruce Richards and CIO Louis Hanover and now has 160 employees across offices in New York City, London and Tokyo. Marathon's core competency is opportunistic investing in the global corporate, emerging market and structured credit markets. Its Capital Solutions platform specializes in designing bespoke private credit transactions to companies in transition and seeks to invest $50 million to $500 million per transaction. Marathon provides partnership capital to sponsors and management teams primarily in the form of senior secured unitranche loans, junior lien debt, mezzanine debt, convertible bonds and preferred equity. For additional information, please visit www.marathonfund.com.

About Avenger Flight Group LLC

AFG was founded in 2012 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with the objective of providing affordable training solutions to fast-growing airlines. With 12 owned and operated training centers in 6 different countries, AFG now offers Full Flight Simulator (FFS) training to a wide range of customers including Ultra Low-Cost carriers and major airlines in the United States, Mexico, South America and Europe. For additional information, please visit www.afgsim.com.

Media Contacts

Prosek Partners
Josh Clarkson, Anne Hart
jclarkson@prosek.com
ahart@prosek.com