Apollo is exploring a potential sale of Atlas Air that could value the freighter operator at $12bn, including debt, reports Bloomberg
Photo: Atlas Air
Private equity firm Apollo is considering the potential sale of freighter company Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, according to newswire Bloomberg.
Citing “people familiar with the matter”, the newswire said that Apollo is in the early stages of considering whether to sell Atlas and would hope to value the business at around $12bn, including debt.
The report stated that other “industry players” and “private equity firms” have expressed a preliminary interest in buying the company.
An investor group led by US investor Apollo Global completed the purchase of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings in March 2023 in a deal with an enterprise value of $5.2bn or an equity value of $2.9bn.
Atlas Air Worldwide provides outsourced aircraft and aviation operating services and is the parent company of freighter operators Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo and lessor Titan Aviation.
Atlas claims its subsidiary companies operate the world’s largest fleet of 747 freighter aircraft as well as 777 and 767 aircraft for domestic, regional and international cargo and passenger operations.
More recently, Titan Aviation has added Airbus A330-300 freighters to its fleet.
Services include ACMI, CMI, scheduled operations, charter operations and dry leasing.
The sale comes as Atlas management has been suggesting a shortage of widebody freighters will hinder the air cargo industry over the coming 10 years and potentially beyond.
If the prediction proves correct, Atlas would be in a good position to capitalise on the development given its large widebody fleet.
In an interview with Air Cargo News earlier this year, chief executive Michael Steen explained that there are currently around 630 widebody freighters in operation, but around 100 of those are older than 30 years, which includes some of the 747-400Fs operated by Atlas, and are therefore heading towards the typical retirement age.
Meawhile, widebody freighter capacity is only expected to grow at 1% per year as production of the Boeing 777 freighter is due to end in 2027 and deliveries of the next generation of widebody freighters – the Boeing 777-8F and the Airbus A350F – are not due to start until 2028 and the second half of 2027 respectively, assuming there are no further delays to the production timeline.
On the other hand, Atlas has yet to commit to an order of the next generation of freighter aircraft.
