Houlihan Lokey Advises Erickson

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that the aerial firefighting operations business unit and aircraft of Erickson Inc. (Erickson) have been acquired by Helicopter Express, Inc. (Helicopter Express). The transaction closed on April 26, 2024.

Erickson is a leading original equipment manufacturer, maintainer, and operator of the highly regarded S-64 Air Crane® heavy-lift helicopter and a leading provider of aviation services specializing in aerial firefighting, infrastructure construction, logging, and logistics services around the globe. Since 1971, Erickson has operated and modernized the global fleet of S-64 aircraft and supported operators of a variety of airframes with vertically integrated manufacturing, maintenance, and repair and overhaul services. Post-transaction, Erickson’s OEM and MRO business units will continue as a standalone and separately capitalized entity. It will continue to serve as an independent manufacturer and service provider for the S-64 Air Crane® helicopter fleets around the world.

Helicopter Express owns and operates a diversified fleet of helicopters and specializes in heavy-lift, utility construction, aerial firefighting, and other operations. The company's experienced pilots and versatile fleet enable it to address challenging missions and provide customers with the highest standards of safety, reliability, and precision in the industry.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to Erickson. This transaction exemplifies the continued success of Houlihan Lokey’s Aerospace & Defense practice within the aviation services market segment. Since 2020, the team has closed more than 70 transactions worth over $12 billion in enterprise value. With a staff of approximately 20 financial professionals, Houlihan Lokey’s Aerospace & Defense practice is among the largest dedicated industry banking groups worldwide. In 2023, Houlihan Lokey’s Industrials Group was ranked as the No. 1 M&A advisor for global industrials transactions under $1 billion, according to LSEG (formerly Refinitiv).*

If you would like more information about Houlihan Lokey or have questions regarding the firm’s role in this transaction, please contact the team members listed below.

*Excludes accounting firms and brokers.

About Houlihan Lokey

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) is a global investment bank with expertise in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, financial restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory. Houlihan Lokey serves corporations, institutions, and governments worldwide with offices in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region. Independent advice and intellectual rigor are hallmarks of the firm’s commitment to client success across its advisory services. The firm is the No. 1 investment bank for all global M&A transactions, the No. 1 M&A advisor for the past nine consecutive years in the U.S., the No. 1 global restructuring advisor for the past ten consecutive years, and the No. 1 global M&A fairness opinion advisor over the past 25 years, all based on number of transactions and according to data provided by LSEG (formerly Refinitiv).