Phase 1
Preparation & Positioning
Financial normalization, EBITDA adjustments, valuation and data room.
Sell-Side Representation
Selling an FBO is a process, not a transaction.
An FBO owner approached directly by a consolidator is negotiating without a market. We establish value independently, then run a confidential process among a curated group of qualified buyers under NDA, so terms are set by competition rather than by a single bidder.
Negotiation covers the complete economics of the transaction, and we remain engaged through diligence, consents and documentation, where agreed value is most often tested.
The owner’s position
One buyer at the table is not a market.
Most FBO owners meet the market for the first time when a consolidator calls. That conversation feels like an opportunity. Structurally, it is a negotiation with no reference point on the other side of the table.
The direct approach
One buyer, one number, no comparison.
A single acquirer sets the price, the structure and the pace. There is no competing bid to test any of it, and no independent view of value to measure it against.
The economics that matter most — working capital, fuel inventory, hangar rent roll, lease assignment, the treatment of owner compensation — are settled in the buyer’s favor simply because no one is arguing the other side.
What the owner gives up
- Price discovery
- Leverage on structure and terms
- The ability to walk without starting over
- Knowledge of who else would have paid
An offer received is information. It is not a market.
A confidential process
Six to eight buyers, competing on terms you set.
Value is established independently first. Only then is the opportunity taken to a curated group of qualified buyers under NDA, on a schedule we control.
Terms are set by competition rather than by a single bidder — and the owner retains the option to stop at any point without having disclosed anything to the market.
What the owner keeps
- A defensible range of value going in
- Multiple parties negotiating against each other
- Control of timing, disclosure and pace
- A senior principal at the table throughout
Terms improve when more than one party can win.
The process
A competitive process, run confidentially, on a defined schedule.
Four phases from engagement to funded. Each one narrows the field while the information disclosed stays under our control.
Engagement
5–7 months
Close · Funded
Phase 2
Market Outreach
CIM released under NDA, qualified buyers approached, indications assessed.
Phase 3
Presentations & Bidding
Site visits, diligence Q&A, letters of intent received and terms negotiated.
Phase 4
Diligence & Close
Quality of earnings, Phase I, sponsor consent, purchase agreement, funded.
What we prepare
The material a buyer underwrites, built before the first call.
A process moves at the speed of the seller’s preparation. Everything below exists before a single buyer is contacted, so diligence confirms what was represented rather than discovering it.
Normalized earnings
Historical results reconstructed to separate recurring operating earnings from owner compensation, related-party rent, discretionary spend and non-recurring items.
Confidential brief
A short, anonymized profile that lets a buyer decide whether to sign an NDA without identifying the business or the field.
Confidential information memorandum
The full presentation of the operation: financial history, fuel and hangar performance, leasehold profile, market position and growth thesis.
Databook
The supporting workbook buyers and their quality-of-earnings teams work from — monthly detail, volume by category, rent roll and adjustment schedules.
Leasehold abstract
Remaining term, extension rights, rent escalation, assignment provisions, consent requirements and anything else the sponsor can assert during transfer.
Buyer list
Strategic consolidators, aviation platforms, family offices and private equity already underwriting this asset class — ranked, then filtered to the parties worth disclosing to.
Confidentiality
A process the market does not see until you decide it should.
Employees, customers, competitors and the airport sponsor all have reason to react to a sale. Most of the damage an owner fears — staff departures, customers hedging, a sponsor hardening its position — comes from an uncontrolled disclosure rather than from the sale itself.
Buyers are approached under NDA from an anonymized brief. Identity is released only after a party has signed and been qualified. Site visits are scheduled to avoid the operation’s visible hours, and management meetings happen off-field where practical.
Nothing is listed. Nothing is advertised. The business is never publicly for sale.
If a process is run properly, the first time most of your market hears about the transaction is after it has closed.
Before the first call
What to have in hand when you decide to look at this seriously.
None of this commits you to anything. It is what turns a general conversation into a specific one.
01
Three years of financials
Profit and loss by year, ideally by month. Tax returns are useful; internal statements are better, because the adjustments live there.
02
Fuel volume by category
Retail, contract, based and transient gallons, with margin. Volume alone does not tell a buyer what the fuel business is worth.
03
The hangar rent roll
Units, square footage, door heights, current rents, lease expirations and the waiting list if there is one.
04
The ground lease
The full document with every amendment. The remaining term and the assignment language often move value more than a point of EBITDA.
05
Capital already committed
Recent improvements, deferred maintenance, fuel farm condition and anything the sponsor requires in the next several years.
06
Your own timing
Whether this is a two-year plan or a now decision changes the sequence entirely. There is no wrong answer, but the answer shapes the work.
Starting
The first conversation is not a listing agreement.
Most owners begin with a valuation. It costs nothing to know what the business is worth, and it is the only way to evaluate an approach that has already been made.
If the range supports a sale, the preparation described above becomes the next step. If it does not, you have a defensible view of value and a clear picture of what would change it — which is worth having whether or not you ever go to market.
Engagements are led directly by senior principals. There is no associate handoff after the pitch.
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.
Firm overview
A private overview of the firm, representative experience and selected capabilities is available upon request.
Request firm overviewHow we work
Direct involvement
Senior advisors remain engaged throughout the assignment.
Evidence before position
Valuation and strategy begin with the underlying economics.
Discretion by default
Information, outreach and counterpart communication are controlled throughout.
Contact
Engage us
Begin a confidential conversation.
If you are considering a sale, acquisition, valuation or strategic aviation assignment, tell us what you are working through.
Initial conversations are confidential and handled directly by the firm.
By telephone
+1 720 460 1285
Office
2040 Balsam Drive
Boulder, Colorado 80304
Boulder, Colorado 80304