Shares Transferred To Nigerian Ownership A Required By Law

In compliance with the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry Content Development Act and Nigerian Civil Aviation regulations governing Air Operator Recertification, Bristow Helicopters has divested its shares in Pan African Airlines Nigeria (PAAN) by transferring them to Nigerian ownership.

In a jointly-released statement, Bristow Helicopter Nigeria Ltd. (BNHL) Chairman Chief Ademola Edu, PAAN Ltd. Chairman Otunba Adekunle Ojora, and Bristow Group Senior Vice President – Global Operations Richard Burman, announced the formation of a new Nigerian company to be called BGI Aviation Technical Services (BATS). The company's core business will be technical aviation maintenance services in Nigeria.

The statement, reproduced in part in The Nation, says that he increased emphasis on Nigerian Content and on better separating BHNL and PAAN from an operational perspective both constitute substantial market shifts.

Bristow AW139

“BHNL and PAAN will now each stand on its own feet," the statement says, "utilizing its own local resources, its own local people and its own local assets, (while) the Group (as their international technical support partner) will focus on being responsible for those elements where, as the leading global helicopter operator, it can provide the local entity on an arms’ length basis with a competitive/commercial advantage."

FMI: www.bristowgroup.com