Politics

Firm Set to Buy Chicago’s Parking Meters Sells Airline That Carried Out Deportations

The New York-based investment firm set to buy Chicago’s parking meters announced Monday it had sold an airline that has been carrying out deportations for the Trump administration, officials announced.

Stonepeak Partners first asked the City Council to approve the $2.53 billion sale of the meters from Chicago Parking Meters LLC in July, only to run into a brick wall of opposition. That firm leased the meters for 75 years in 2008.

Air Transport Services Group, which is also owned by Stonepeak, sold Omni Air International, which has a contract with the Department of Homeland Security to provide long-haul deportation flights, to OAI Holdings, LLC, according to a statement from the firm known as ATSG.

More than a dozen progressive members of the City Council said they would not vote in favor of the deal unless the firm sold Omni Air, threatening the completion of the deal involving the city’s 36,000 parking meters.

The announcement of the sale of Omni made no mention of Tuesday’s looming vote by the City Council to approve the sale of the parking meters, nor did it disclose the sale price.

“This agreement marks an important step for ATSG as it reflects the advancement of our long-term strategy of investing in and building out our core air cargo and related aviation services businesses,” said ATSG CEO Greg Mays. “We have been assessing strategic options for Omni for some time given the significant opportunities in air cargo. This transaction allows us to focus our resources more fully on serving that market and related customers. We look forward to continuing to execute on our strategic vision, and are confident that OAI is the right next owner for Omni and their customers as they will benefit from OAI’s decades of proven aviation experience.”

Representatives of Stonepeak did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WTTW News.

James Wyper, Stonepeak’s senior managing director, told a City Council committee that the firm believed the Trump administration’s ongoing mass deportation effort was “abhorrent” and was actively trying to sell Omni Air.

A group of alderpeople announced Sept. 15 that they had negotiated a deal that required Stonepeak to sell Omni Air, pay the city $75 million and share 5% of its profits with the city, which is expected to yield $376.2 million for the city over the next 57 years, according to the agreement.

In 2008, Chicago Parking Meters LLC leased the city’s meters for 75 years in return for $1.15 billion — a much-loathed deal crafted by former Mayor Richard M. Daley and rubber-stamped by the City Council hat continues to roil Chicago politics nearly two decades later.

Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry told alderpeople Thursday that Stonepeak had filed a “disinvestment certification,” promising to sell the airline. That document was available for alderpeople to review, but Richardson-Lowry said the city could not share it with members of the public.

Although some City Council members peppered Richardson-Lowry during that session with questions about the details of the deal and whether the city had any recourse if Stonepeak ultimately failed to sell Omni Air, all of the members of the City Council’s Progressive Caucus voted to advance the deal.

Ald. Jason Ervin (28th Ward), whose proposal for the city to create an infrastructure trust to buy back the meters failed to garner any support, and Ald. William Hall (6th Ward) voted against the deal.

Their opposition prompted supporters of the deal to delay a vote until Tuesday, one day before the deadline set by Stonepeak.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]

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