Amazon takes minority stake in ATSG

Amazon has taken a minority stake in Air Transport Services Group, an air freight partner that operates a significant share of the company’s fast-growing aviation logistics unit.

Amazon exercised warrants in ATSG that will allow it to acquire about 13.5 million shares in the cargo airline at an exercise price of $9.73 per share, or more than $131.9 million, ATSG said in an SEC filing. As part of a separate agreement, Amazon also purchased approximately 865,000 shares of ATSG, with no cash exchanging hands, the filing states.

Amazon has owned warrants in ATSG since 2016. It was granted warrants as part of an agreement to lease 20 Boeing 767s from ATSG, one of its earliest deals with a cargo company to build out its burgeoning air fleet. Amazon also owns warrants to buy a minority stake in rival carrier Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings.

Amazon’s air fleet, launched in 2016, is a critical part of its push to provide one- and two-day delivery. The company still relies on ATSG and Atlas Air to fly a large portion of its packages, but it has started to bring some air cargo operations in house, lending further credence to the belief that Amazon Air could one day rival FedEx and UPS.

In a first for the company, Amazon in January purchased 11 used Boeing 767-300 jets from Delta and WestJet. The company is scheduled to lift the veil later this year on its $1.5 billion air hub in northern Kentucky, which has capacity for 100 Amazon-branded planes and is expected to handle about 200 flights per day.