Flexjet: Private jet giant valued at $4bn after mega funding round
Flexjet, the world’s second-largest private jet company, has been valued at around $4bn (£2.9bn) after securing $800m in new funding.
The US firm’s latest funding round has been led by private equity giant L Catterton – which itself is backed by luxury group LVMH.
Other backers of the round include KSL Capital Partners and J. Safra Group.
Flexjet was advised by Jefferies, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.
Flexjet is chaired by American aviation entrepreneur Kenn Ricci, the principal of Directional Aviation Capital.
He said: “L Catterton, with its special relationship with LVMH and its family of brands, provides the perfect opportunity for collaborating in areas such as consumer insights, brand strategies, retail expansion, and luxury product delivery.”
The company is headquartered in the USA, was founded in 1995 and owns and operates more than 270 aircraft and 19 helicopters globally.
Flexjet has operated its shared ownership and access programmes in the UK and Europe, under the banner of Red Label by Flexjet, since 2021.
Its European fleet includes the Gulfstream G650, Praetor 600 and the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter.
Flexjet UK cuts UK losses as sales take off
In August 2024, CityAM reported that the UK arm of Flexjet increased its sales and cutting its pre-tax loss during 2023.
The London-based division, which operates in the fractional ownership market, has posted a turnover of £40.9m for 2023, up from £38.4m in 2022.
Accounts with Companies House also revealed that its pre-tax loss fell from £15.4m to £14.2m over the same period.
At the time, Flexjet said the decrease in its pre-tax loss was mostly because of the rise in its turnover and the improvement of its margin.
The company’s UK turnover increased from £21.6m to £22m while it nudged up from £12m to £12.5m in the rest of Europe.
The firm’s turnover in the rest of the world also rose from £5.1m to £6.2m.
During the year the average number of people employed by the division grew from 32 to 48.
Flexjet’s UK accounts for 2024 are due to be filed with Companies House by the end of September.