Acquisition of the leading Turkish Air Freight Carrier Will Capitalize on Growth Potential of Regional Aviation Cargo Market

ISTANBUL, TURKEY –

(Marketwire – October 24, 2011) – Bravia Capital (Bravia), a private equity investor based in Hong Kong and Yangtze River Express (YRE) of China, announced today that they have completed the acquisition of ACT Airlines, Turkey. ACT Airlines is an air cargo operator based in Istanbul, Turkey. The transaction represents the strategic expansion of China’s global footprint into the high-growth marketplace of Turkey and surrounding regions, and allows Bravia, among others to build a cargo platform to capitalize on the growing Eurasian cargo traffic. ACT Airlines has been rebranded and will trade as “MyCargo Airlines”.

MyCargo Airlines will join a group of strong and successful companies under the Grand China Logistics Group (GCL). Created in 2007 as the first air-land-sea and conglomerate logistics company in China, GCL has total assets of over USD 7 billion and operates a cargo airline with 14 aircrafts, 8 shipping lines operating a total of 100 ships in bulk, tanker and container segments, and 2 shipyards.

Mr. Zhang Youqiang, the new Chairman of MyCargo Airlines said, “We are extremely happy to have made our second investment in Turkey. The country and region is a strategic focus for YRE, and we hope to utilize our investments to develop a full service logistics hub for the surrounding growth regions. The existing management team is excellent, and along with support from Bravia, we truly believe that this can be developed into a top tier business.”

Mr. Yavuz Cizmeci, CEO of MyCargo Airlines said, “We are very excited to continue our strong partnership with YRE and Bravia. The response from our customers, our employees, and our financiers is overwhelmingly positive. We are in discussions with our customers to expand our business several-fold and we have already increased fleet capacity in order to meet the growing demand. In addition, we have several large-scale initiatives planned to develop operating platforms in Europe and Africa. Finally, this transaction is a key example of the recently reinforced Chinese-Turkish economic relationship, and will provide strength to the region.”

In implementing its new business plan, Bravia and YRE have financed and delivered two (2) Boeing 747-400 freighter aircraft (valued at over USD 100 million) into MyCargo Airlines. Both aircrafts will be operational in 2011. In addition, Bravia and YRE have committed to source and deliver up to ten (10) A300-600 freighters and three (3) additional 747-400 freighters over the next two years (valued at over USD 400 million). The newly inducted aircrafts will both renew its existing fleet and expand capacity in order to meet customer demand. MyCargo Airlines will operate both medium and large widebody aircrafts in both the ACMI and network segments.

Mr. Bharat Bhisé, CEO of Bravia Capital said, “The completion of this transaction continues to represent our successful track record of acquiring transportation businesses. As we stated when we signed the transaction in July, our immediate next priority is strengthening and expanding on the relationships we have with our world-class customer base. I believe the induction of the 747-400 freighters on day one and our commitment to continue to deliver aircraft supports our claim. This is now Bravia’s second significant investment in Turkey in the past year – we have high optimism for this business and the region.”

In addition to this transaction, Bravia completed ten (10) months ago the acquisition of myTECHNIC, based at Sabiha Gökçen International Airport in Istanbul, the first lean (zero waste) greenfield aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) center in the world. MyTechnic, founded by the same Turkish investment group that led the MyCargo initiative, performs aircraft and engine maintenance for a wide range of airline customers primarily based in Europe, MENA, and Asia, including MyCargo Airlines.

Founded in 2004, ACT Airlines has developed a fleet of six (6) A300 freighters and has been operating long-term contracts for world-renowned customers, such as DHL, Lufthansa, U.K. Ministry of Defense and Chapman Freeborn among others.

About Bravia Capital
Bravia Capital is a Hong Kong based investment firm with a primary focus on transportation and logistics projects in Europe and Asia. Please find more information at braviacapital.com.