Universal Helicopters of Goose Bay, Labrador, today announced that it has closed an agreement to invest in South Coast Helicopters, headquartered in Fullerton, California.
Universal will own a 49% share of South Coast, the maximum investment allowed to a foreign aviation operator under U. S. law. Universal’s investment in South Coast is its first investment in the United States.
“The VFR (Visual Flight Rules) segment is a large market internationally in the helicopter services industry,” says Universal Helicopters President and CEO Shane Cyr. “Half of the world market is in the United States. This investment opens up that potential to Universal.”
South Coast Helicopters provides services to the motion picture and commercial production industries. It also services clients such as the US Forestry Service and NASA.
Universal operates in Newfoundland and Labrador, the Canadian Arctic, northwestern British Columbia, and the Yukon, and serves a variety of clients in government and in the resources industry.