British aircraft services company BBA Aviation is preparing to purchase its US rival Landmark Aviation for $2.065bn.
Following the deal, the Signature Flight Support (Signature) business of BBA Aviation will be merged with Landmark.
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BBA Aviation currently has the highest number of fixed-base operations in the US, and Landmark is third in the same category.
BBA Aviation chief executive Simon Pryce said: "This is a transformational step in the continued execution of BBA Aviation’s strategy that is both strategically and financially compelling.
"It represents a unique opportunity to materially expand our global Signature FBO business and deepen our exposure to the attractive B&GA market with its structural growth drivers."
Private equity firm Carlyle Group owns Landmark Aviation, which has 68 flight support business locations across the US, Canada, France, and the UK.
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By GlobalDataThe company also has a presence in airports at New York (White Plains), New Jersey (Teterboro), Los Angeles, Miami, San Diego, Washington DC (Dulles), Paris (Le Bourget) and London (Luton).
At present, Landmark has more than 110 aircrafts under charter and management, which flys more than 15,000 charter hours a year.
Signature president and COO Maria Sastre said: "This is a strategic fit for the Signature network.
"It will significantly expand our reach within North America, as well as globally. It will also enhance Signature’s customer value proposition and materially increase the relevance of our network for our customers."
"Once completed, Signature will be able to offer its world-class customer experience and loyalty programmes across a much broader network of leading B&GA locations."
BBA Aviation stated that it would launch a rights issue to raise £748m for funding part of the acquisition.
It also expects to add earnings from the acquisition in 2017 and increase the return on the invested cost of capital in 2018, reported by Reuters.
The acquisition will be funded through a new debt facility and a rights issue of 562,281,811 shares, at an issue price of 133 pence per share. This is anticipated to raise around $1.15bn.
BBA Aviation hopes to save $35m a year in costs by 2017, and seeks tax benefits of $240m.
In a separate transaction last year, Ontic, a division of BBA Aviation signed new license agreements with Curtiss-Wright.
