Buy-Side Representation
Buying an FBO: know what it is worth before you commit capital.
An acquirer needs an independent view of a target’s value and its downside before an offer is set. We reconstruct earnings, test the operating assumptions and identify what the seller’s numbers do not show.
Negotiation then runs against the evidence in the numbers rather than against the asking price.
The acquisition process.
Four phases from strategic alignment through close, and four deliverables to the acquirer.
Alignment
What the acquisition is required to do for the platform, and the price at which it does so. Stated before a target is approached, so the discipline holds when the process gets competitive.
Evidence
Reconstructed EBITDA, share-capture modeling against the competing FBO on field, and a pro forma supportable line by line.
Negotiation
Offer construction and counters built off the evidence, with direct seller engagement through LOI.
Close
Diligence coordination, sponsor consents, and a transition plan that retains the customer base acquired.
What we build
An independent view of the target, before the offer.
A seller’s package is a case for a price. It is accurate and incomplete at the same time. The work below is what turns it into something an acquirer can underwrite.
Reconstructed earnings
Add-backs tested rather than accepted. Owner compensation, related-party rent and one-time items are each defensible or they are not.
Share capture
What the competing operation on field actually holds, and what a change of ownership and service level would realistically move.
Fuel margin durability
Contract exposure, based versus transient mix, and how the margin behaved the last time volume fell.
Leasehold risk
Remaining term, consent to assign, rent resets and minimum standards — the terms that can change the return after closing.
Hangar economics
Rent roll quality, expirations, achievable rate against the market, and unbuilt land with demand behind it.
The pro forma
Built from the four above rather than from a growth assumption, and stress-tested before it becomes the basis for a number.
The best FBOs are not on the market.
Operations worth acquiring rarely reach a listing. They are approached quietly, often years before the owner has decided anything, by someone the owner has reason to take a call from.
We approach targets on a buyer’s behalf on that basis: a specific acquirer with a specific rationale, not a broad canvass. The conversation is confidential in both directions, and it does not signal to a field that a buyer is shopping.
Where a competitive process is already running, the work shifts to positioning — understanding what the seller actually values in a bid, which is frequently not the highest number.
Bring us in before the letter of intent, not after it.
The terms that determine an acquisition’s return — price, structure, working capital, the treatment of fuel inventory, lease consent conditions — are largely set in the LOI. Re-trading them during diligence is possible and expensive.
We work with strategic platforms, family offices and private equity groups, both on single-asset acquisitions and on platform formation where several operations are assembled over time.
Where debt is part of the structure, the financing case is built alongside the valuation rather than after it, so the offer reflects what a lender will actually support.
The firm
Senior principals, involved throughout.
Griffin Towers is an independent advisory firm focused on aviation transactions and select strategic assignments.
The practice is intentionally focused. Engagements are led directly by senior principals from initial analysis and valuation through negotiation, diligence and execution.
We favor preparation, discretion and disciplined judgment over transaction volume.
A private overview of the firm, representative experience and selected capabilities is available upon request.
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Boulder, Colorado 80304