Airia SAS Acquired By Gardner-Airia Holdings SAS

Better Capital PCC Limited has been informed of the acquisition of a French company Airia SAS and its subsidiaries ("Airia") by Gardner-Airia Holdings SAS, a sister company of Gardner Group Limited ("Gardner").

Airia and Gardner sit within the BECAP Fund LP (the "2009 Fund") investment portfolio.

Airia is involved in the manufacture, fabrication, assembly and distribution of aerospace detailed parts. Its main operations are in Mazeres, near Toulouse (where its largest customer, Airbus, is located). Airia also has smaller sites in Marseille and Lyon.

Gardner is the UK's largest independently owned supplier of metallic aerospace details and sub-assemblies.  Customers include Airbus, Rolls-Royce, GKN, BAE Systems and other major international companies in the aviation sector.

Nick Sanders, Head of Portfolio at Better Capital LLP and Chairman of the Gardner Group commented "The acquisition of Airia is not only a significant strategic move for Gardner but also a major step in the overall consolidation of the aerospace components manufacturing sector. Gardner's key customers have, for some time, been looking to suppliers in the sector to create scale and recognise that common ownership is the ultimate solution. The creation of this new Anglo-French company is a real first for the sector and is testament to the vision of both Groups and their customers."

Airia recorded revenue and EBITDA for the year ended 31 December 2011 of €35 million and €0.4m respectively.  These results are subject to audit completion which is currently in progress. The transaction was funded from Gardner's current cash reserves and a drawdown of £3.0m from the 2009 Fund. The drawdown increases the 2009 Fund's total commitment to the Gardner Group to £40.7m.