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Flight Options, A Leader and Innovator in the Private Aviation Industry, Announces an Investment by Directional Capital and Resilience Capital Partners

Dépèche transmise le 26 mars 2009 par Business Wire

Flight Options, A Leader and Innovator in the Private Aviation Industry, Announces an Investment by Directional Capital and Resilience Capital Partners

CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Flight Options announces that Directional Capital, an investment firm led by Flight Options Chairman Kenn Ricci, Resilience Capital Partners, a leading private equity firm, and key members of the Flight Options management team have made an additional investment in Flight Options, a leader and innovator within the private aviation industry. H.I.G. Capital also remains an investor.

Kenn Ricci is the founder of Flight Options and an aviation veteran credited with revolutionizing the fractional aircraft ownership industry.

“We are confident that increasing the involvement of Kenn Ricci and the management team that helped pioneer the private aviation industry will result in a stronger company,” said Steve Rosen, Co-CEO of Resilience Capital. “We look forward to continuing our involvement as Ricci and the team focus on growing the company.”

Flight Options is a leading private jet aviation company with a fleet of more than 110 best-in-class aircraft that provides a full suite of services to businesses and high net-worth individuals. Flight Options provides fractional ownership programs to over 1,400 Owners and Members. Through the years, Flight Options has been an innovator in finding new ways to deliver real value, while always including five-star caliber service and personalized travel options. As the needs of their clients have evolved, so have the services and value-added benefits offered by Flight Options.

“This is an exciting investment for the Flight Options team. We have assembled an investor group and management team that is passionate about the business and is committed to the industry for the long term. While we are aware that the short term continues to contain challenges for our industry, we are confident that with the continued focus on delivering exceptional service and operating efficiently, we will be able to seek out opportunities and markets where we will continue to flourish,” said Kenn Ricci, Chairman of Flight Options.

About Flight Options

Flight Options has earned a reputation as a leader and innovator within the private aviation industry. The Cleveland, Ohio-based company marked its 10th Anniversary in 2008 and offers the complete spectrum of programs from fractional ownership to leasing, aircraft management, and JetPASS Membership. The company is an industry leader in private aviation safety as well, having been selected by the FAA to partner and participate in the development and implementation of a formal Safety Management System (SMS) soon to be required for all air service providers. Flight Options provides personalized service to its Owners and Members, with a fleet of over 110 aircraft consisting of the Hawker 400XP, Hawker 800XP, Citation X, and Embraer Legacy 600. Arriving in late 2009, Flight Options will take delivery of the revolutionary new Phenom 300®. More information is available at www.flightoptions.com or by calling 877.703.2348.

About Directional Capital

Kenn Ricci is a principal of Directional Capital which, since 2003 has owned and operated various private aviation enterprises in the aircraft support, operations, and technical services industries. Mr. Ricci has spent 26 years involved in private aviation enterprises. First, as the founder of Corporate Wings, an aircraft management, maintenance and repair, and charter operation. Then, in 1998, Ricci pioneered the fractional aircraft ownership industry by creating Flight Options. In July 2008, Ricci was named Chairman of Flight Options.

About Resilience Capital Partners

Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Resilience Capital Partners is a leading private equity firm specializing in investing in lower middle market companies within a broad range of industries. Resilience’s value oriented investment strategy is to acquire companies with solid business prospects in a wide variety of special situations including underperformers, corporate divestitures, turnarounds, and orphan public companies. Since its inception in 2001, Resilience has acquired 16 companies with total revenue in excess of $1.5 billion. In January 2009, Resilience won the 2008 Private Equity Firm of the Year Deal Makers Award from the Association for Corporate Growth. For more information, please visit www.resiliencecapital.com.