Chabé jets in to private aviation sector with Limo Plus acquisition

Fast-growing chauffeur operator Chabé has acquired Farnborough-based Limo Plus. It is the first acquisition that Chabé has made in Britain since the Paris-based company set up its UK subsidiary in 2020.

Limo Plus serves a similar portfolio of high-end clients to Chabé – and crucially, it brings access to a number of private jet operators , an area that Chabé is keen to develop, according to UK managing director David Bruce.

“Private jets aligns with our business – we serve luxury hotels, luxury brands, luxury events, so that fits very well with our clients,” Bruce said.

There is plenty of scope for growth with several major private jet airports around London, including Stansted, Farnborough, Luton, Oxford and Biggin Hill – and there are 6 handling agents at Biggin Hill alone.

Limo Plus was founded in 1997 by David and Jo-Ann Ramos. They are staying with the business, but the Limo Plus office in Farnborough is closing, with services all being run from Chabé’s Heathrow offices.

David Bruce said: “We’ve known Jo-Ann and David since 2010 – Chabé has worked with them in international markets as a fulfillment partner.”

“We’ve now built suitable scale to serve high -touch markets, so there was a logic in coming together, as our client bases are very similar in terms of demands, but they do not overlap at all.”

He continued: “We already serve some of the same sectors, for example financial services and private equity. But Limo Plus serves the private aviation sector with specific private jet clients, which we did not have. We do serve the private jet terminals but not operators, so there is perfect synergy.”

Jo-Ann Ramos explained the decision to sell to Chabé: “We had a decision to make – do we scale up the business, or partner with a proven operator that understands high-touch operators?”

The reaction to the deal has been very positive, she said: “The reception from customers has been brilliant – a lot of them are friends and they’re happy that I’m staying around with Chabé. Our private jet clients are happy that we can now serve more places with access to the Chabé supplier base. Limo Plus was a global limo service but Chabé gives us far greater global reach, so we’re excited about that.

The move will free David and Jo-Ann Ramos from the day-to-day management of the business, allowing them to spend more time looking after clients and developing new ones, especially in the private aviation sector.

David Bruce added: “We will bring all the Limo Plus clients, staff and chauffeurs over to Chabé to give us further capacity.”

Bruce said Chabé would look “selectively” at further acquisitions. “The Limo Plus deal didn’t happen overnight – the conversations had been going on for two years,” he said. “You can’t force a deal like that . There has to be logic to the deal and value for all parties, including the customers.