Global Eagle Expands Presence in In-Flight Business

LOS ANGELES: Global Eagle Entertainment, the venture founded by Harry Sloan and Jeff Sagansky, has acquired IFE Services, which distributes a host of feature films and some 20,000 hours of TV programming, as well as games and more, to airlines in Asia, South America and Africa.

The deal sees Global Eagle taking control of IFE's parent company, Travel Entertainment Group Equity, from GCP Capital Partners for $36 million. The move follows the July purchase of Post Modern Group (PMG), a digital media production company. In November of last year, meanwhile, Global Eagle announced a $430-million transaction to acquire Row 44, a satellite-based broadband service provider to the global airline industry, and a majority stake in Advanced Inflight Alliance, which supplies games, movies, general entertainment and applications to the airline industry. With IFE—a distributor of movies, TV programs, games, mobile apps, publications, safety videos and technical support to some 50 airline and cruise ship operators—in the family, Global Eagle will now control about 70 percent of content offerings to airlines. The deal also enables the company's expansion into Asia, South America and Africa.

“This acquisition is in line with our strategic objective to grow our position as the leading provider of in-flight media, to broaden our client base and to further strengthen the combined service offerings we provide to airlines worldwide,” said John LaValle, CEO of Global Eagle. “The addition of IFE Services will significantly enhance our presence in multiple fast-growing, emerging markets where our combined service offerings are in demand.  We look forward to working together with IFE’s CEO Andy McEwan and the talented team at IFE Services in bringing our innovative solutions to the worldwide travel industry.”

“This is another transaction that we expect to be highly complementary to our existing business,” added Dave Davis, CFO of Global Eagle. “In addition to adding IFE Service’s strong cash flows, we believe we can unlock substantial efficiencies from our combined operations to the benefit of our shareholders.  At the same time, we continue to be in a solid position to pursue additional acquisitions given our healthy balance sheet, strong management team and growing global footprint.”