Gazelle Fund LP invests in Camex Airlines, an air cargo carrier in Georgia
Gazelle Fund LP has committed to invest US$ 2,500,000 in Camex Airlines one of the first local air cargo carriers to locate its logistics hub in the country of Georgia. The country of Georgia is located at the crossroads of Asia and Europe and serves as a strategic transportation, shipping, and logistics hub for eastbound and westbound traffic via the Black Sea. This investment positions Georgia to further enhance its multimodal freight and cargo transit potential by opening new air transportation corridors and trade routes.
Georgia offers the most direct shipping route between Eastern Europe and Central Asia and boasts a network of seaports, airports, railway lines and highways, which provides for a robust multimodal transportation system for the transshipment of goods in and out of the region. Georgia’s commitment to support the development of its transportation and logistics infrastructure is well evidenced by the recent completion of the Pace Terminal at Poti Port and the successful operations of three oil and gas transit pipelines starting in 1999, including: Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, South Caucasus gas Pipeline (SCP) and Western Route Export Pipeline (WREP) also known as Baku-Supsa pipeline.
“Camex is well positioned to rapidly seize market share due to increased demand for air cargo transportation services between Europe and Asia as a result of supply chain shifts and increased global merchandise turnover cycles”, said CEO of Gazelle Finance, Jeffrey Liebert. “We see Georgia as an emerging regional distributions and logistics center, and Camex is an important piece of the puzzle in the development of multimodal transportation capacity for the South Caucasus region”.
Camex Airlines is Gazelle Finance’s first investment in a regional player in the transportation sector, and successfully catalyzed additional private sector capital from a local private Georgian investor. With this financing, CAMEX Airlines will be able to sign lease agreements with various lessors’ ad secure leases of 4 aircrafts including narrow and wide-body freighters, including a Boeing 737-800 by the end of 2022 and provide the necessary working capital to operate and maintain these aircraft. As result of this investment Gazelle Finance anticipates the creation of 150 new jobs for the Georgian economy.
“We are pleased that Gazelle Finance had a shared vision with our company that air cargo transportation is a high growth sector for this region”, said Davit Mazmishvili, CEO of Camex. “Our goal is to become the leading air transportation, distribution and logistics company based out of the South Caucasus”.
The entrepreneurs behind Camex have decades of experience in distribution, logistics, brokerage, freight forwarding and commercial air cargo services, and include experienced pilots with a proven track record of flying goods and passengers along the targeted global air routes. The company’s biggest advantage is that it can leverage its existing client network and partnerships with cargo tracking operators to secure contracts. By moving upstream into aircraft fleet operations and maintenance, Camex is well positioned to offer customized solutions to its clients throughout the Eurasia region at a competitive price point by operating out of a lower cost hub compared to alternatives in the region.
Gazelle Finance
Gazelle Finance is a financing company, that invests in high-growth, small and medium-sized enterprising in the Eurasia Region, with current focus on Georgia and Armenia. Its mission is to create a better financial future for capable entrepreneurs and the communities they serve. The company seeks to identify gaps and barriers in the capital market and provide a financing solution to responsible entrepreneurs, who are carefully selected. By focusing on growing their businesses, Gazelle Finance helps local markets and economies to expand.
Camex Airlines LLC
Established in 2021, Camex Airlines LLC is one of the air cargo carriers in Georgia. CAMEX International, one of the leading freight forwarder companies in the region, has initiated the project of creating CAMEX Airlines. The Business and financial plan has been developed by the top-level international experts in Cargo Aviation with significant experience in Lufthansa and world’s top airlines.
CAMEX Airlines will be operating on transcontinental high demanding cargo routes using Georgia’s geo-strategic location as a base. Currently, CAMEX Airlines is negotiating with the leading aircraft lessors to acquire narrow and wide-body freighters and is planning to operate 4 freighters by the end of 2022.
The Airline is managed by an experienced international and local airline management team with the background of passenger and cargo airline operation.
The airline has signed agreements with EASA certified maintenance service providers and is ready to start operation after completing the AOC Certification process.
