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Rowan Companies announced the completion of its sale of Era Aviation Jan. 3 to Seacor Holdings. Seacor has said from the start, however, that it plans to sell the airline portion of the business that serves many rural communities in Alaska. Seacor will hold onto Era's main business focus - providing helicopter services for oil and gas operations.
FILE PHOTO/AJOC
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ANCHORAGE - Rowan Companies Inc. announced Jan. 3 the completion of its sale of Era Aviation Inc. to Seacor Holdings Inc. The sale was effective Dec. 31 for the purchase price of approximately $118.1 million in cash, subject to post-closing working capital adjustments.
Federal regulators approved the bid to buy Era Aviation earlier in December.
Houston-based Seacor, which provides transportation and environmental services to offshore oil rigs, struck a deal in October to buy Anchorage-based Era from its parent corporation, Rowan, also from Houston.
Era's main business is providing helicopter services for oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. It also uses its helicopters to fight fires and provide other utility services, and runs flightseeing tours in the summer.
The company's Alaska regional fixed-wing airline has hubs in Anchorage and Bethel and flies passengers and cargo to 24 state destinations. In Kenai, Homer and Valdez, Era is the only regularly scheduled passenger airline. As such, it is bound by federal "essential air service" rules and cannot simply abandon those routes.
Seacor, however, wants to sell that part of the business, and executives from both companies are negotiating with a potential buyer, Chuck Johnson, Era's president, has said.
"The new owner has stated from the beginning that they don't want to be in the airline business," Johnson said. He said the company plans to continue operating the regional airline until they strike a deal to sell it.
As for the helicopter business, Seacor plans to combine its Tex-Air Helicopters unit with Era and to operate the combined outfit under the Era Aviation banner. Johnson will continue to run the combined company as president.
Its headquarters, however, is being moved to Lake Charles, La., where Era bases its Gulf Coast division, Johnson said.
About 500 of Era's 820 employees are based in Alaska, and the employment base here will shrink with the completion of the merger.
There will be job cuts as the companies consolidate management positions. Some Alaska-based employees also are likely to relocate to the company's new headquarters, Johnson said.
In addition to shifting jobs to Louisiana, Era is scaling back its flightseeing business in Alaska and will close its flightseeing bases in Seward and Valdez. Aside from that, there will be few changes in Alaska resulting from the buyout, Johnson said.
