Steve Townes, Advisor, Aerospace

Mr. Steve Townes is the CEO & Founder of Ranger Aerospace LLC (www.rangeraerospace.com) a holding company founded and headquartered in Greenville, SC. Mr. Townes is a nationally recognized industry entrepreneur and private equity leader in the aviation, airline services, and aerospace/defense industries, and advises Sigma on investments and acquisitions in that $300 Billion worldwide marketplace. Ranger Aerospace, started in March 1997, is a privately held investment and management holding company that partners with private equity institutions to acquire and grow companies in aviation services and aerospace support operations. Ranger and its co-investors add value to acquired companies via seasoned veterans experienced in aviation services, aerospace program management, engineering, finance, government programs, executive search, C-level consulting, corporate development, MIS, marketing & strategic planning, LEAN initiatives, Total Quality Management, mergers & acquisitions, post-merger integration, and turnarounds.

Townes' latest platform investment is Ranger International Services Group, Inc. (2010). Ranger International has made aggressive acquisitions in the midst of the "great recession," creating so far a $100 Million enterprise that performs Government Technical Services for various DOD agencies and for larger prime contractors. Services include airfield operations, aircraft technical services, logistics services, heavy vehicular overhaul and "RESET," engineering services, and base support operations. Ranger International has 3 subsidiaries: CAV International, US Logistics, and Ranger TechWorks. These business units employ about 1,000 people in various bases and depots in the US and overseas. For details on these operations, visit www.rangerinternational.com, www.cavinternational.com, www.us-L.com, www.rangertechworks.com.

One of Townes' most successful ventures was the acquisition and growth of Keystone Helicopter, where he was CEO and a substantial co-investor. That 50-year old company was tripled under Ranger to $132 Million, with commensurate growth in EBITDA profits. Shareholder value was more than quadrupled in less than 5 years, the company was sold for a strategic premium (51% IRR earned by institutional equity investors) to United Technologies in late 2005, and is now a centerpiece unit of UTC's Sikorsky Helicopter division. In that high-performing consolidation, Ranger also financed and built the "Keystone HeliPlex," the largest helicopter technical services center in North America, and also acquired Composite Technology Inc, a major overhauler of rotorblades. For details see www.keystonehelicopter.com.

In his distinguished aerospace career thus far, Mr. Townes' previous experiences include CEO of Aircraft Service Intl Group, a 56-city aviation services firm with 4,250 employees, which he built up through multiple acquisitions and international joint ventures, then successfully sold to a $3B strategic buyer from England. "ASIG" was Ranger's first deal commencing in 1997, when Townes first went independent as a private equity investor and roll-up CEO. Also CEO of a large aircraft engineering services firm performing over 2 Million manhours per year of heavy services, and COO of a multi-city FBO chain. Earlier experience included leadership roles in a large aero-mod's company, and a multi-billion dollar aerospace manufacturer.

Townes also holds a passive minority investment in 3 helicopter services companies, in partnership with one of the Hunt organizations in Texas, but that holding is unrelated to Ranger International and other Ranger Aerospace investments. Ranger Aerospace and several related limited partnerships also hold investments in real estate, publicly traded aerospace securities, and other private industrial ventures.

Mr. Townes is an engineering graduate of West Point, MBA from Long Island University, and Harvard PMD. He won the Eisenhower Award upon graduation from West Point, and is a former Airborne Ranger officer in the Army. He has been on the Board of Governors of The Wings Club in New York, a prestigious worldwide organization of thousands of high-ranking aerospace, airline, finance, and government executives. Townes is on the board of Precision Aviation Group, Inc., in Atlanta GA. He also guides the actions of RangerPartnersGroup LLC, which performs numerous types of consultancies to companies in the aviation, air cargo, and aerospace industries. Ranger Partners Group was founded in September 1988. The Ranger business model of buy, build, improve, and re-sell is highly repeatable and garners superior investment returns, so Townes and the Ranger Aerospace senior executive team intend to build Ranger International to critical mass and divestiture, then repeat the process in yet another sector of the vast aerospace industry in partnership with other private equity investors.

Email: Townes@sigmacapital.net (or) stownes@rangerinternational.com .
 

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