CHC era
In 1987, Newfoundland businessman Craig Dobbin headed a group of investors organized under the name Canadian Holding Company, commonly using the initialism CHC. CHC purchased Okanagan Helicopters, along with Viking Helicopters, and Toronto Helicopters; all three merged their assets with Dobbin's own company, Sealand Helicopters, to form a new company, initially branded Canadian Helicopters, while the parent company was renamed CHC Helicopter Corporation.[9] The new entity placed a great priority upon merger and acquisition opportunities, in addition to forming strategic partnerships, that would allow it to enter new or lightly served regions, such as South America.[12]
During the 1990s and 2000s, CHC continued to acquire various other operators, including British International Helicopters in 1994; Helicopter Services Group of Norway in 1999 (including Bond Helicopters), Helikopter Service AS, Lloyd Helicopters of Australia and Court Helicopters of South Africa.[12] In 2004, CHC purchased Schreiner Aviation Group, which specialized in provided offshore helicopter services in the Dutch sector of the North Sea and to the Nigerian offshore industry. In 2000, CHC agreed with Fonds de Solidarité FTQ (FSTQ) and the management of its two Canadian divisions, Canadian Helicopters Eastern and Canadian Helicopters Western, to sell an interest in CHC's Canadian assets via a management buyout to form Canadian Helicopters; consequently, senior management and FSTQ acquired 10% and 45% equity interests in Canadian Helicopters, respectively, while CHC retained a 45% equity interest.[13]
During 2004, CHC decided to reorganize its operations into two principal divisions; Helicopter Services became responsible for the firm's global operations, while Heli-One functions as the world's largest independent provider of helicopter maintenance, repair, and overhaul services.[12][14] As part of the restructuring, the company relocated its corporate headquarters from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador to Richmond, British Columbia.[15]
In late February 2008, all of CHC's shares were purchased by First Reserve, a US private equity company, for CAD$3.7 billion ($3.5 billion), following the latter's uninvited offer.[16][17] Around this same time period, the word "Corporation" was dropped from the company's name, having been formally rebranded as CHC Helicopter. In January 2014, the company announced its intention to raise up to $529 million through an initial public offering, the proceeds of which it mainly intended to use to paydown its outstanding debts.[18] On January 16, 2014, CHC announced an initial public offering of 31,000,000 shares at a price of $10 per share.[19]
On January 15, 2016, CHC offered 31,000,000 shares at US$5.17. On February 1, 2016 the New York Stock Exchange delisted the CHC's ordinary shares, pursuant to Section 802.01B of the NYSE's Listed Company Manual requiring NYSE-listed companies to maintain an average market capitalization of $15 million or more over the preceding thirty trading days. The NYSE also suspended trading of the Company's ordinary shares effective immediately.[20] On May 5, 2016, the company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.[21] CHC's bankruptcy was attributed to recent drops in the price of oil having negatively impacted revenue, making it unable to service the company's high burden of debt; other helicopter operators were also reported to be struggling under the prevailing economic conditions of the period as well.[22] Reflecting the company's drop in performance, CHC's share value dropped from US$176.10 on November 17, 2014 to US$0.45 by June 17, 2016. During July 2016, a Texas court allowed CHC to shed 65 helicopters from its financial obligations, the majority of its Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma fleet.[23] On March 1, 2017, a reorganized CHC emerged, relaunching its brand and web presence.[24][25]
