Attached files
| file | filename |
|---|---|
| EX-10.2 - Avantair, Inc | v163409_ex10-2.htm |
| EX-10.1 - Avantair, Inc | v163409_ex10-1.htm |
| 8-K - Avantair, Inc | v163409_8k.htm |
Avantair,
Inc. Announces Closing of a Financing and Addition of Four
Aircraft
to its Fleet
CLEARWATER, Fla. – October 20,
2009 — Avantair, Inc. (OTCBB: AAIR), the only publicly traded stand-alone
private aircraft operator and the sole North American provider of fractional
shares and flight hour time cards in the Piaggio Avanti aircraft, today
announced two important milestone achievements for the company: the closing of
a financing and the addition of four aircraft to its
fleet.
Avantair
has closed the final tranche of a financing for total gross proceeds of $10.4
million. Avantair intends to use the net proceeds from this financing
transaction to retire approximately $6.0 million of debt and for working capital
and general corporate purposes. EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. acted as the
exclusive placement agent in the offering.
The
Company’s improved capital structure enabled the addition of three new managed
aircraft to the Avantair fleet. The Company is adding one additional managed
aircraft prior to calendar year-end 2009.
“We have
demonstrated considerable financial growth in recent quarters and the closing of
these transactions further augments our ability to execute on our growth
strategy,” said Steven Santo, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Avantair.
“The completion of the transaction enables us to further improve our capital
structure and significantly improve cash flow. We have also entered
into agreements to expand our fleet with the addition of four aircraft, three of
which we have already received and the fourth which we expect to add before the
end of the calendar year. The expansion of our fleet will enable us
to keep pace with the strong demand for our flight programs. Each of
the positive trends in our business that we have recently announced—including
gains in revenues, flight hours, fleet size and headcount—show that we are
taking a growing share of the private aircraft market, so the timing of this
expansion couldn’t be better. At a time when our competitors
are downsizing, Avantair continues to grow at a record pace.
“With our
infrastructure and balance sheet soundly in place, we believe we are well
positioned to reach new levels of success this fiscal year as the number one
value provider in private travel,” Mr. Santo concluded.
Under the
terms of the offering, Avantair sold approximately 8.8 million shares of Common
Stock to investors at a price per share of $0.95. The sale was
consummated among Avantair, the new investors and the investors in June and
September 2009 financings. In conjunction with the transaction, the
Company also exchanged 817,000 outstanding warrants that had been issued to
investors in the two prior financings for 0.63158 shares of Common Stock per
warrant.
About
Avantair
Avantair,
the only publicly traded stand-alone private aircraft operator and the sole
North American provider of fractional shares and flight hour time cards in the
Piaggio Avanti aircraft, is headquartered in Clearwater, FL, with over 400
employees. The Company offers private travel solutions for individuals and
businesses traveling within its service area, which includes the continental
United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico, at a fraction of the cost of
whole aircraft ownership. The Company currently manages a fleet of 55 aircraft,
with another 53 Piaggio Avanti aircraft on order through 2013. For more
information about Avantair, please visit: http://www.avantair.com
.
Forward
Looking Statements
This
press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, with respect to Avantair's future
financial or business performance, strategies and expectations. Forward-looking
statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as "trend,"
"potential," "opportunity," "pipeline," "believe," "comfortable," "expect,"
"anticipate," "current," "intention," "estimate," "position," "assume,"
"outlook," "continue," "remain," "maintain," "sustain," "seek," "achieve," and
similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would,"
"should," "could," "may" and similar expressions. Avantair cautions that
forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and
uncertainties, which change over time. Forward-looking statements speak only as
of the date they are made, and Avantair assumes no duty to and does not
undertake to update forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ
materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements and future
results could differ materially from historical performance.
In
addition to factors previously disclosed in Avantair's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and those as may be identified
elsewhere in this press release, the following factors, among others, could
cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements or
historical performance: general economic and business conditions in the U.S. and
abroad, changing interpretations of generally accepted accounting principles,
changes in market acceptance of the company's products, inquiries and
investigations and related litigation, fluctuations in customer demand,
management of rapid growth, intensity of competition. The information set forth
herein should be read in light of such risks. Avantair does not assume any
obligation to update the information contained in this press
release.
Avantair’s
filings with the SEC, accessible on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov ,
discuss these factors in more detail and identify additional factors that can
affect forward-looking statements.
Investor
Relations Contacts:
The
Piacente Group, Inc.
Kristen
McNally
212-481-2050
aair@tpg-ir.com