DWF has advised Aviator, the largest independent aviation services supplier in the Nordic region, on its acquisition of the former Servisair ground handling operations at London Gatwick, Newcastle and Helsinki-Vantaa airports from Swissport International, the world's leading provider of ground and cargo services to the aviation industry, in addition to the Swissport operations at Birmingham airport.

The divestment of the respective operations is a result of the merger remedies the EU Commission imposed on Swissport in order to get merger clearance for Swissport's acquisition of Servisair. The closing of the divestment is subject to EU approval.

Frank Shephard, head of corporate in the North West, led the deal at DWF and commented: "It has been a pleasure to work with Aviator on its entry into the UK market, particularly as the deal marks such a significant milestone in the company's strategic development outside of the Nordic region and will enable the company to broaden its portfolio of aviation related services."

Frank was supported on the deal by senior solicitor Lucy Shenton in the corporate team, and partner Jonathan Branton and consultant Bróna Heenan in the competition team at DWF.

Paul Synott, Aviator CEO, added: "We are delighted with this acquisition. Expanding into London Gatwick, Newcastle and Birmingham with a strong management team and dedicated personnel gives us a perfect platform for expansion into new geographical markets. The expansion of our network will enable us to provide our customers with an improved service delivery; with our flexible solutions we can meet the highly varied and demanding support service needs of new and existing customers."

Aviator is a full-range provider of ground handling services, currently operating at 21 airports in the Nordic region. At London Gatwick, Newcastle, Birmingham and Helsinki-Vantaa Aviator will be responsible for the ground handling for a number of significant national and international airlines.