In August 2021 aviation ground service and cargo handling company Swissport International completed 25 years. Three months before this historical landmark, the Swiss company appointed Warwick Brady as its new president and chief executive officer. South African origin Brady, an experienced aviation leader who held top positions in easyJet, Mandala Airlines, Air Deccan/Kingfisher, Ryanair, NATS and Buzz, had once rejected to take up the Swissport offer because the company was under the Chinese ownership and was not in the best of financial health.
Eric Born, former group president and CEO of Swissport International AG, persuaded Brady to take up the role as Born was planning to make an exit. However, Brady, who had his share of challenging shareholders in the past, decided to wait and see a change in the ownership of Swissport to take up the role.
“I thought I might wait until the acquisition was done before I put my hat in the ring,” said Brady. Brady and the companies that he worked for were customers of Swissport and according to him, Born thought Brady would be a perfect choice to replace him at Swissport.
So in December 2020 Swissport got its new owners in a debt-for-equity swap and completed a comprehensive financial restructuring. As part of a debt-for-equity swap, ownership of the company has been transferred from HNA Group to a group of financial investors led by the former senior secured lenders of Swissport. The lead investors are investment funds managed by affiliates of Strategic Value Partners, LLC (“SVPGlobal”), Apollo Global Management, Inc., TowerBrook Capital Partners, Ares Management, Cross Ocean Partners and King Street Capital Management, LP.
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