Textron to acquire Beechcraft for $1.4 b

The parent company of Cessna Aircraft said on Thursday it would buy Beechcraft for approximately $1.4 billion, a deal that would combine two mainstays of the general aviation industry of Wichita, Kansas.

Cessna’s parent, Textron, based in Providence, Rhode Island, said it expected to complete the acquisition early next year. “The acquisition of Beechcraft is a tremendous opportunity to extend our general aviation business,” Scott C Donnelly, Textron’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said. “From our customers’ perspective, this creates a broader selection of aircraft and a larger service footprint — all sharing the same high standards of quality and innovation,” he said.

Beechcraft emerged from bankruptcy this year largely freed from debt and its unprofitable Hawker business jet operations, which it stopped making to focus on turboprop and piston aircraft as well as trainers and light attack planes for the military.

Bill Boisture, Beechcraft’s chief executive, called the sale “an important step forward in the evolution of Beechcraft’s business”. He had said in recent months that he expected the company would sell at least its idled business jet assets by the end of 2013.

“Textron’s experience in the industry and its willingness to invest in and maintain the iconic Beechcraft brand make it an ideal parent company, one that will help us continue to satisfy our customers and meet our business objectives at a faster pace,” he said.

Beechcraft has more than 36,000 aircraft in service and continues to support its Hawker business jets. Donnelly said Beechcraft’s line of King Air turboprop planes “perfectly complements” Cessna’s Caravan and Citation jet lineup. In August, Beechcraft announced an order of nearly $1.4 billion from Wheels Up, a private aviation membership company based in New York, to build up to 105 King Air 350i aircraft and to serve as Wheels Up’s North American maintenance provider. Beechcraft exited bankruptcy with roughly 5,400 employees worldwide, including about 3,300 at its headquarters.

Boisture said in February that he expected those employment levels to remain stable. Founded in Kansas in the 1930s, Beechcraft was bought by Canadian investment firm Onex Partners and Goldman Sachs’s private equity arm in 2007. The company struggled in the sluggish business jet market during the economic downturn that followed its purchase and filed in May 2012 for bankruptcy reorganization, from which it emerged February 19.

Cessna Aircraft was founded in Wichita in 1927 and has built and delivered nearly 200,000 airplanes worldwide since then, including 6,500 Citation business jets, according to Textron. Cessna also makes Caravan single-engine utility turboprops and single-engine piston aircraft, and provides aftermarket services including include parts, maintenance, inspection and repairs.