LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Air Partner (L:AIRA) has acquired aviation safety specialist Baines Simmons for 6 million pounds ($9.4 million) to gain exposure to growing demand for air safety advice, the jet charter company said on Wednesday.
Air Partner, which charters aircraft for governments, companies and high-net-worth individuals including Britain's Queen Elizabeth, said the deal would add a more stable revenue stream to its sometimes volatile broking income.
"What companies are being forced to do across Europe is to have increased levels of accountability (for safety)," Air Partner director Justin Scarborough said.
Britain's Civil Aviation Authority, for instance, has plans to become a performance-based regulator over this year and next, which will demand more safety training.
"We expect the switch to performance-based regulation to result in increased challenges for operators and greater demand for the services of Baines Simmons," Liberum analyst Gerald Khoo said.
Baines Simmons customers include British Airways (L:ICAG), the Royal Air Force and Airbus (PA:AIR)
Shares in Air Partner, which has a market capitalisation of 45 million pounds, were up 2.9 percent at 1306 GMT.