Sikorsky to acquire Polish aircraft maker

[Dave_Jackson]

'Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. will sign a contract next week to purchase state-owned aircraft maker Polskie Zaklady Lotnicze, the producer of the M28 Skytruck cargo plane. "The contract will be signed on Jan. 10 in Warsaw," Roma Sarzynska, a spokeswoman for the government's Industrial Development Agency, which runs the Polish company, said by phone yesterday. The company, known as PZL Mielec, has more than 200 million zloty ($67-million U.S.) of debt, according to the Zycie Warszawa newspaper. Zycie reported Dec. 29 that Sikorsky, a unit of United Technologies Corp., plans to invest $40-million in the aircraft maker and start producing UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters there. UTX (NYSE) rose 5 cents (U.S.) to $62.86.'

[Matthew Parsons]

Interesting. PZL makes a single turbine trainer. Maybe Sikorsky will branch into that line.

The other interesting thing is that PZL was making AW139 fuselages when I visited their Swidnik plant.

The industry keeps getting smaller and smaller (or is it closer and closer??).

Matthew.

[Ian Corrigible]

Matthew,

Different company - SAC is looking at buying PZL-Mielec (of M28 Skytruck/M18 Dromader fame), not PZL-Swidnik (W-3/SW-4/AW139 fuselages).

I/C

[Matthew Parsons]

Thanks, IC. I didn't realise it was a different company. Thought it was just a different division.

Matthew.