ACL Airshop Announces Worldwide Expansion Plans

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GREENVILLE, S.C, March 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ACL Airshop, a leader in products and services for the global air cargo industry, is announcing its long-range worldwide expansion plans in a press briefing at the annual IATA World Cargo Symposium in Abu Dhabi on March 14-16, 2017. Over the past 33 years, ACL Airshop has become a leading worldwide one-stop shop for leasing, sales, repair and fleet control of Unit Load Devices ("ULDs") and cargo net/strap manufacturing for the aviation industry. Today the company operates around the world on six continents, at more than half of the world's Top 50 air cargo hub airports. One of the unique aspects of the company's offerings is short-term rentals and leasing solutions for airlines' cargo products requirements—that is where ACL Airshop has made its strongest reputation for Custom ULD Solutions.

In 2016, ACL Airshop opened 4 new hub locations and enhanced 3 others. New sites include Narita/Tokyo, Bogota, Mexico City, and Beijing. Service enhancements were added at DFW Texas, IAH Houston, and LAX California. 2016 was a year of positive transitions and brisk growth of new sites with the strong new parent company of ACL Airshop, and now the organization will begin accelerating its worldwide network investments on behalf of its hundreds of airlines customers. ACL Airshop serves over 200 airlines of all sizes and types, currently at 37 major airport locations.

For 2017 and beyond, the Company plans to ramp-up its hub investments around the world. At the IATA symposium, the company is also rolling-out its new logo and completely re-made web site.  This year, the growth will include at least 5 new service hubs, plus 2 new Repair Stations in Bogota and Hong Kong (adding to the existing service operations at those two key sites).  Hong Kong is the #1 largest air cargo airport in the Asia-Pacific region, indeed second-only globally to Memphis TN (the main hub for FedEx). Bogota is the #1 busiest cargo airport in all of Latin America, and is intended as ACL Airshop's capital city for that important geographic zone. The company's 2016 investment at Narita Airport/Tokyo with a complete ULD Repair Station is a classic example of responding to customers' needs: 60% of all air cargo in and out of Japan flows through Narita. Tony Morgan, President & CEO of ACL Airshop, said: "Growing our network is a simple, customer-driven strategy.  We are building a larger footprint. It makes us an even better partner for our airline clients. We will expand to a significant majority of the world's Top 100 air cargo airports in the coming years."

Tony Morgan further commented: "We will grow the network by providing Custom ULD Solutions via Leasing, Sales, Manufacturing, Repairs, or Fleet Control.  We will replicate our footprint at 70 or more global locations while maintaining the highest standards in quality, service, integrity, and loyalty to our clients and partners. We make our customers measurably more efficient; saving them time and money.  And, our customers know that we are globally available around the clock every day. Our expansion strategy is exciting and well-capitalized: we are creating the strongest niche leader for Custom ULD Solutions in the world."

ACL Airshop intends to invest for growth in each of its lines of business and expand geographically to keep pace with rising industry trends.  The headquarters is near Greenville, SC, and the main international office is in Amsterdam, NL.  

ACL Airshop provides mission-critical air cargo products and services to numerous leading air carriers.  ACL Airshop operates in five highly complementary business segments: Cargo Control Products Manufacturing, ULD Leasing, ULD Sales, ULD Repairs, and ULD Logistics & Fleet Control.  Cargo pallets, cargo shipping containers, straps, nets, hardware, and other cargo-specific control products are globally available 24/7/365.  ACL Airshop also provides innovative leasing programs and control/tracking services, and operates FAA / EASA approved repair stations in multiple locations to repair and overhaul these assets.

While increasing its operational footprint in North America, South America, and Europe, ACL Airshop's growth in recent years has also followed regional trends in the Asia-Pacific and Mideast regions.  The company has a significant service presence at strategic locations such as Dubai, Hong Kong, Japan, and mainland China.  Other related subsidiaries of ACL Airshop include DOT Tiedown (manufacturer of cargo nets and straps), and Animal Flight Services (flight transport for horses and other animals).   

The February 2016 majority investment in ACL Airshop by Ranger Aerospace and its Private Equity partners won "Deal of the Year" award from M&A Advisor magazine, a worldwide financial publication.

Ranger Airshop of Greenville SC is the latest investment platform created and managed by Ranger Aerospace. As the parent company, Ranger brings additional capital strength and management resources to support ACL Airshop's continuing growth. Ranger's experience includes three large-scale, successful aerospace services consolidation platforms since 1997. Ranger previously grew similar aviation services operations such as "ASIG" to 56 airports across 12 time zones, and expanded "Ranger International" to 22 major air bases around the world, in addition to other quality-centered high-growth enterprises in aerospace. Ranger's plan is to enhance and expand ACL Airshop through strategic investments and organic growth, entering new lines of technical capacity, fostering deep operational improvements, expanding geographically, and possibly acquiring complementary companies.

Steve Townes, Ranger Aerospace founder and CEO of Ranger Airshop Holdings, stated: "Ranger has doubled and even tripled companies in previous ventures and we intend to do the same with ACL Airshop. We listened to our customers and they wrote our primary strategy for us—GROW THE NETWORK. Customers can tell that we're on the march, doing more for them, listening carefully to them, and always going the extra mile with them."  Ranger Airshop is capitalized by four large institutional partners and the company's senior management; the lead investor is Argosy Private Equity, part of the Argosy Capital fund family.  This is Argosy's fourth venture with Ranger over the past 15 years.  

ACL Airshop / BMW Road-Fest Event: Watch for more details on an exciting tradition that we hope our airline customers will join.  It is the bi-annual ACL Airshop/BMW Road-Fest on Thursday March 1, 2018. We will announce details soon for this unique, invitation-only exhilarating 1-day event in Greenville SC at the BMW North America High-Performance Driving Center. This video gives you a glimpse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfYU3Qe4euI.

For more information:  www.aclairshop.com, and www.rangeraerospace.com.  

Forward Looking Statements: The Company from time to time may discuss forward-looking information. Except for factual historical information, all forward looking statements are estimates by the Company's management and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that are beyond the Company's control and may cause actual results to differ materially from management's expectations.

SOURCE Ranger Aerospace

Related Links

http://www.rangeraerospace.com