14 April 2026 – bd-capital, the pan-European, operator-led private equity firm, is pleased to announce its investment into IBA Group (“IBA”), a leading provider of aviation data, intelligence and advisory services, with the strategy of further accelerating growth of IBA’s data proposition to stakeholders within the growing aviation financing ecosystem.
IBA provides proprietary and mission-critical data products, advisory services and asset management solutions to airlines, lessors, MROs, financial institutions, governments and other aviation stakeholders worldwide. Founded in 1988 and headquartered in the UK, IBA has built a strong reputation for the quality and depth of its proprietary aviation data and the expertise of its team.
IBA’s integrated platform spans two core divisions, both of which are critical cogs in the global aviation financing machine: (1) aviation data and analytics, and (2) technical advisory services. Its data and intelligence products are used by clients across the full aviation ecosystem to support aircraft valuations, fleet planning, lease management, financing decisions and regulatory compliance. IBA’s blue-chip client base reflects the trusted, authoritative position it has established as a source of aviation intelligence globally.
The aviation data and intelligence sector benefits from powerful structural tailwinds, including the continued growth of global air travel, increasing fleet complexity, the proliferation of data-driven decision making across the industry and growing demand for independent technical expertise. In particular, aviation finance – IBA’s core target end-segment – is known for lack of data transparency and scarcity of public information, creating a challenge for aviation finance stakeholders who rely on data to make significant investment decisions.
IBA solves this challenge with its proprietary, mission-critical data, much of which is derived from its industry-leading technical services. These independent aircraft appraisal and consultancy services have been building authority, reputation and data for nearly 40 years giving IBA an important and valued position in the industry.
IBA has experienced strong growth in partnership with its previous investor – TPA Capital. Under TPA ownership the business launched the very successful Digital Solutions division – IBA Insight – allowing the company to monetize its proprietary and highly valuable dataset collected over decades of advisory work in the aviation industry. The platform has seen rapid adoption by industry stakeholders since launch, transforming IBA into a digital data-led business. As of 2025, half of IBA’s revenue was recurring annual digital platform subscriptions – with significant potential for further growth.
bd-capital is proud to be partnering with IBA CEO Gerry Gualtieri and the wider IBA management team to support the next phase of the company’s growth.
bd-capital will bring a significant amount of institutional capability in scaling up Business Information Services businesses, including the experience of Graham Elton, who becomes the new Chairman of IBA. Graham is a member of both bd-capital’s Investment Advisory Committee and bd-capital’s Operators Club, and has significant experience of successfully leading businesses in the Business Information Services sector having run businesses for both the Financial Times Group and United Business Media and chaired a number of private equity portfolio companies including: With Intelligence, Law Business Research, SLR Consulting, Lane Clark and Peacock and JMAN Group.
Gerry Gualtieri, CEO of IBA Group, said;
“My team and I are excited about partnering with bd-capital to take the business on the next stage of the journey. We believe IBA has huge potential and are sure that the scale and experience that the team at bd-capital possess will help to achieve our ambitious plans for the business. I would also like to thank TPA for their strong support of the business and wish them the best for the future.”
Graham Elton, incoming Chairman of IBA Group, commented;
“I am very much looking forward to working with Gerry and his team to continue the impressive development and growth of IBA. The business has truly proprietary information and is helping customers address critical business decisions. That is a winning formula and one that we can build on both organically and through M&A.”
Andrey Russinov, Partner at bd-capital, said;
“We have long admired IBA Group as a business that occupies a truly differentiated position in the aviation data market. Its proprietary data assets, combined with the technical expertise of its team, create a compelling and defensible platform with significant growth potential. Aviation financing is a sector undergoing rapid change, and the demand for high-quality, independent data and intelligence has never been stronger. We are delighted to be partnering with Gerry and the IBA team and look forward to supporting them in building on the strong foundations that have been established.”
Ravi Aujla, Partner at TPA, said;
“We’re pleased to be transitioning IBA to a new and ambitious partner in bd-capital. Over the last decade under TPA ownership the business has evolved markedly, particularly as the business began making the pivot towards digital solutions, a few years into our investment. We’re proud of what’s been achieved during our time with IBA and we are immensely thankful for the hard work of its management team and staff, both past and present, in driving the growth and success of the business. We believe that IBA has a very exciting future ahead of it, under bd-capital’s ownership, and wish the new owners, alongside Gerry and the rest of the team, the very best of luck for the future.”
bd-capital executed the transaction in close partnership with advisory teams from KPMG (Financial), Stephenson Harwood (Legal), PwC (Financial and Tax DD), Palladium (Digital and AI) and Altman Solon (Commercial).
IBA Group and TPA Capital were advised by Raymond James (Financial), Squire Patton Boggs (Legal), Simon Kucher (Commercial), 8Advisory (Financial and Tax DD) and Crosslake (Technology DD).
