Steve Townes, Advisor, Aerospace
Mr. Steve Townes is the CEO & founder of Ranger Aerospace
LLC (www.rangeraerospace.com)
a holding company founded and headquartered in Greenville, SC. He has over
32 years industry experience, over half of which has been as either CEO or
COO, chiefly in the rarefied context of Private Equity and Venture Capital
majority ownership. Mr. Townes is a nationally recognized industry
entrepreneur, turnaround expert, and private equity leader in the aviation,
airline services, and aerospace/defense industries, and advises Sigma on
investments and acquisitions in that $400 Billion worldwide marketplace.
Ranger Aerospace, started in March 1997, is a privately held investment and
management holding company that partners with larger private equity
institutions to acquire and grow companies in aviation services and
aerospace support operations. Ranger and its co-investors add value to
acquired companies via seasoned veterans experienced in aviation services,
aerospace program management, engineering, finance, government programs,
executive search, C-level consulting, corporate development, MIS, marketing
& strategic planning, LEAN initiatives, Total Quality Management, mergers &
acquisitions, post-merger integration, and turnarounds.
2012 UPDATE: In its 15 years of operations and investments
thus far, Ranger Aerospace has led three large-scale consolidations,
creating award-winning enterprises in 3 different sectors, through differing
economic cycles, and with varying company cultures and business models in
the acquired outfits. The 3 big “realized” successes (i.e.: exiting the
investment, selling to a strategic buyer) have been: Aircraft Service
International Group, Inc. (“ASIG,” sold to the large British conglomerate
BBA Group PLC); Keystone Helicopter Corporation (sold to Sikorsky, a unit of
United Technologies Corp); and Ranger International (sold to Berger Group of
Companies). By selling to strategic buyers, the enterprises then grow and
flourish with more resources. ASIG has more than tripled since divestiture,
and was placed on an excellent growth track by Ranger. Keystone Helicopter
has quintupled since divestiture, and was on a very aggressive growth
trajectory with Ranger. Commencing in 2012, the recently sold Government
Services platform will grow as part of its new billion-dollar parent.
The common themes in these successes are: quality-centered
management, disciplined business planning and measurements systems,
aggressive and relentless marketing & sales, investments in people,
unwavering compliance to FAA and FAR regulations, and integrating bolt-on
acquisitions to grow the initial platform. Operational improvements yield
improving levels of profitability, combined with an exceptionally lean
approach toward corporate level overhead costs. Thus, when Ranger’s work is
done, the profit multiplier for valuation is higher, especially with
strategic buyers. Ranger follows a serious-minded “Good to Great”
philosophy, and maintains a very principled methodology while aggressively
building businesses.
Townes' latest platform investment was Ranger International
Services Group, Inc., which was sold for an excellent value to a $1 Billion
strategic buyer in early 2012. Ranger International made aggressive
acquisitions in the midst of the "great recession," creating a $100 Million
enterprise performing Government Technical Services for various DOD agencies
and for larger prime contractors. Services include airfield operations,
aircraft technical services, logistics services, heavy vehicular overhaul
and "RESET," engineering services, and base support operations. Ranger
International’s business units employ about 1,000 people in various bases
and depots in the US and overseas. That enterprise will henceforth be called
Louis Berger Services, Inc.
One of Townes' most successful ventures was the acquisition
and growth of Keystone Helicopter, where he was CEO and a substantial
co-investor. That 50-year old company was tripled under Ranger to $132
Million, with commensurate growth in EBITDA profits. Shareholder value was
more than quadrupled in less than 5 years, the company was sold for a
strategic premium (51% IRR earned by institutional equity investors) to
United Technologies in late 2005, and is now a centerpiece unit of UTC's
Sikorsky Helicopter division. In that high-performing consolidation, Ranger
also financed and built the "Keystone HeliPlex," the largest helicopter
technical services center in North America, and also acquired Composite
Technology Inc, a major overhauler of rotorblades.
In his distinguished aerospace career thus far, Mr. Townes'
previous experiences also include CEO of Aircraft Service Intl Group, a
56-city aviation services firm with 4,250 employees, which he built up
through multiple acquisitions and international joint ventures, then
successfully sold to a $3B strategic buyer from England. "ASIG" was Ranger's
first deal commencing in 1997, when Townes first went independent as a
private equity investor and roll-up CEO. Townes began the first years of his
career at a multi-billion dollar aerospace manufacturer (LTV Aerospace &
Defense). Also CEO of a large aircraft engineering services firm performing
over 2 Million man-hours per year of heavy services, COO of a multi-city FBO
chain, and marketing & major programs Officer in a large aero-mod's company.
Townes holds a passive minority investment in 3 helicopter services
companies in Texas, but that holding is unrelated to other Ranger Aerospace
businesses (no board or management involvement). Ranger Aerospace and
several related limited partnerships also hold investments in real estate,
publicly traded aerospace securities, and other private industrial ventures
such as Ranger Precision Group.
Mr. Townes is an engineering graduate of West Point (1975),
MBA from Long Island University (1980), and Harvard PMD (1985). He won the
Eisenhower Award upon graduation from West Point, and is a former Airborne
Ranger officer in the Army. He served 5 years as an Army officer, prior to
starting his 32-year civilian aerospace career. He was Chairman of
SkyTanking GmbH for several years, a German-based airfields fueling company,
is the Vice Chairman of Ranger Saudia Ltd., and has other extensive
international business experiences in Latin America, Europe and Middle East.
He has been on the Board of Governors of The Wings Club in New York, a
prestigious worldwide organization of thousands of high-ranking aerospace,
airline, finance, and government executives. Townes is on the board of
Precision Aviation Group, Inc., in Atlanta GA. He also owns
RangerPartnersGroup LLC, which has the capability to perform numerous types
of consultancies to companies in the aviation, air cargo, and aerospace
industries, supplemented with highly qualified Adjunct Partners. Ranger
Partners Group was founded in September 1988.
The Ranger business model of buy, build, improve, and
re-sell is highly repeatable and garners superior investment returns, as
Townes and the senior executive team have proven repeatedly in various
aerospace sub-segments. While Townes is building Louis Berger Services,
Inc., to its “next level” as its full-time CEO, it is probable that other
partners of Ranger will repeat the growth process in other sectors of the
vast aerospace industry in partnership with other private equity investors.
Copyright © 2010 by Sigma Capital Group, Inc.,
Raleigh, NC. All rights reserved.