Private equity firm Vista Global announced it has acquired JetSmarter — which is an on-demand private aviation company. JetSmarter has a partnership with XOJET in place and this will be carried over to Vista Global group. And JetSmarter’s platform will be integrated into the back-end technology of Vista Global’s brands including VistaJet, Vista Lease, and XOJET.
Vista Global is going to apply data science, machine learning, and AI to deliver clients the best value globally. And Vista Global is going to become the first company to offer an end-to-end digital suite of flying solutions to private aviation customers with instant booking options to fly anywhere at a moment’s notice through this acquisition.
The integration is expected to significantly improve the ease and speed of the booking process for the 150,000 passengers traveling with any of the Vista Global companies every year — which builds upon its impressive track record offering customers one of the most technologically advanced solutions in the private aviation industry. And JetSmarter’s technology is going to digitalize Vista Global’s customer offering to Program Members and On Demand customers.
“Today’s acquisition is an important milestone for Vista Global – accelerating and executing our vision of digitizing the entire private aviation offering. Customers today want speed, reliability, and value, which in today’s world is only possible with technology,” said Vista Global founder and chairman Thomas Flohr. “Vista Global’s reach and infrastructure will take JetSmarter to the global stage to fully realize its potential. JetSmarter’s technology will digitalize Vista Global’s market-leading customer offering to Program Members and On Demand customers.”
Since being founded in 2012, JetSmarter became the preeminent provider of technology-enabled service to the business aviation market. And it has been downloaded two million times to date.
After the acquisition is completed, JetSmarter’s customers are going to benefit from the reach, resources, and operational expertise of Vista Global group. And they will benefit from the group’s superior customer service and unmatched in-flight experience.
“Vista Global is marking a new major milestone in its development. The acquisition of JetSmarter is fully in-line with the company’s mission: to transform the nature of the business aviation sector and offer its growing customer base a fast and seamless access to its services through digital innovation,” added Rhône Capital co-founder and managing director Steven Langman.
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter subject to customary closing conditions. As part of the deal, all of JetSmarter investors including Clearlake Capital and Jefferies Financial Group will become investors in Vista Global.
“Vista Global is the undisputed market leader with unmatched vision to consolidate and digitally transform this fragmented industry. Vista Global’s worldwide fleet access, unmatched end-to-end service experience, and world-class management team will combine with JetSmarter’s digital technology leadership including digital bookings and On Demand crowdsourcing to further expand Vista Global’s leadership,” stated Clearlake Capital Group managing partner and co-founder Behdad Eghbali. “We are thrilled to partner with Thomas Flohr and the talented management team at Vista Global and believe that, combined with Vista Global, JetSmarter will flourish and revolutionize the industry’s digital transformation.”
