Onex Partners, TriWest Capital Partners, and co-investors have agreed to acquire AirSprint, Canada's largest fractional private jet ownership company.

Air Sprint

Onex Partners, TriWest Capital Partners, and co-investors have agreed to acquire AirSprint, Canada's largest fractional private jet operator.

Terms of the deal were not announced.

The acquisition, in which founder Judson Macor and CEO James Elian will retain a stake, is expected to close in the third quarter.

Based on fractional and charter flight hours, AirSprint ranks eighth among North American operators.

Onex Partners has invested $22 billion across six funds, acquired 53 operating company platforms, and completed more than 590 add-on acquisitions, while offering $7 billion of co-investment capital across 24 co-investment opportunities since inception. Onex Corporation has $56 billion in assets under management, of which $9.4 billion is Onex Corporation's own investing capital, per the announcement.

Private equity firm TriWest has raised over C$1.7 billion in committed capital through seven funds and invested in 52 companies.

Calgary-based AirSprint was founded in 2000 and currently operates a fleet of 44 Textron Aviation Citation light jets and Embraer midsize and super-midsize aircraft.

According to the announcement, it has over 600 fractional owners in its programs.

The AirSprint program enables those clients to have guaranteed availability of private jet flights at contracted rates within Canada and throughout North America, including to the Caribbean and as far afield as Europe.

It has over 400 employees.

AirSprint said the deal would support its "next phase of growth, including fleet expansion, operational enhancements, technology investments, and strategic initiatives designed to strengthen further its leadership position in the Canadian private aviation market."

Macor will become chairman emeritus while Elian will remain as chief executive. Both will remain on the board of directors.

Macor called the move "a strong endorsement of the business we have built and the opportunities ahead."

Elian said, "What makes AirSprint special is our people. Across the country, our team shows up every day with a deep commitment to our fractional owners and to the standards that have built AirSprint's reputation."

The company has been named to Canada's Best Managed Companies list for seven consecutive years.

Onex Partners Managing Director Faiz Hemani said, "Judson Macor founded and grew the company from a single aircraft into a national private aviation platform defined by an uncompromising dedication to its fractional owners, and we're proud to help carry that legacy forward."

He added, "We're excited to back James Elian and the entire team to execute their plan to grow AirSprint's core business, expand its offerings, and continue to deliver the safety standards and white-glove service that set AirSprint apart."

Goodmans LLP acted as Canadian legal counsel, Kirkland & Ellis LLP as U.S. legal counsel, DLA Piper LLP as aviation regulatory counsel, and RBC Capital Markets as exclusive financial advisor to Onex Partners and its co-investors. Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP acted as legal counsel, and CIBC Capital Markets and Jefferies, LLC acted as financial advisors to the private jet operator.