US advisor and infrastructure investor Tallvine Partners has launched an FBO group, having acquired the assets of Odyssey Aviation, which owns and operates three FBOs in North America. Granite Creek Capital Partners and Equivu Capital, who had Odyssey as a portfolio company, were also involved in the deal.

The Tallvine platform is dedicated to acquiring, enhancing and expanding FBOs catering to general and business aviation, as well as cargo and freight operations, at airports throughout North America. Chad Farischon, former co-founder and president of Lynx FBO Network before its acquisition to Atlantic Aviation, will lead the platform, supported by Ed Zwirn, operating director at Tallvine. Together, they bring extensive experience incepting, operating and expanding previous FBO platforms, with deep asset knowledge and key industry relationships.

“The launch of our FBO platform and acquisition of Odyssey demonstrates our commitment to investing in scalable infrastructure opportunities that we see as driven by thematic tailwinds and high-quality teams with deep sector experience,” says Thomas Lefebvre, partner and CEO of Tallvine Partners. “We are excited to partner with Chad, a world-class leader in the FBO sector, and look forward to actively growing the platform together.”

In January, Tallvine closed its acquisition of Odyssey and now owns and operates FBOs at three locations including Willow Run airport in Detroit, Michigan, Kissimmee Gateway airport in Orlando, Florida and St Simons Island airport in St Simons Island, Georgia. The three locations will continue to operate under the Odyssey brand. Odyssey provides its customers with a full suite of FBO services and manages over 270,000 sq ft of real estate and over 2,500,000 sq ft of ramp at its three locations. The platform is seeking to expand and is actively pursuing strategic acquisitions in the FBO sector.

Mark Clark, partner at Tallvine Partners, states: “We see this as a tremendous opportunity to create a leading FBO business in North America with significant growth potential. We look forward to working closely with Chad and Ed to execute on exciting opportunities, including hangar expansions, operational enhancements and complementary acquisitions across the US and Canada.”

“This is an exciting new chapter for Odyssey Aviation's US FBOs,” adds Chad Farischon, newly appointed CEO of Tallvine's FBO platform. “I'm thrilled to work with Tallvine and, with its continuing support, to expand the platform into new markets and further deliver exceptional service and quality with a commitment to continuing excellence, safety and value creation.”

Granite Creek invested in Odyssey in 2022 as part of a shareholder recapitalisation led by the company's majority owner, Equivu Capital. In 2023, Granite Creek provided additional capital to the company to help fund its acquisition of Golden Isles Aviation, a fixed-base operator located at St. Simons Island Airport in St. Simons, Georgia.

During Granite Creek's investment period, Odyssey was led by aviation and FBO executives Sal Calvino, chairman of the board of Odyssey and CEO of Equivu Capital, and Ken Allison, CEO of Odyssey.