Textron buys Beechcraft for 1.4 Billion

[robbreid]

Financial Times (paid subscription) is reporting Textron has agreed to pay 1.4 billion for Beechcraft - waiting for press release or further info.

Previous news from Oct regarding potential bidders; Textron said to consider bid for struggling Beechcraft - Providence Business News (http://www.pbn.com/Textron-said-to-consider-bid-for-struggling-Beechcraft,92413)

[robbreid]

Update; Report: Beechcraft sold to Textron for $1.4 billion - Wichita Business Journal (http://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/blog/2013/12/report-beechcraft-sold-to-textron.html?ana=twt)

[LGW Vulture]

If true, I wonder if we will see Cessna quietly start to withdraw from the manufacture of larger jets. Interesting.

[silverknapper]

Would think they would remain. Baron has no competition and Cessna don't really make anything comparable to the Bonnie for space and comfort. If anything it may accelerate a diesel engined version.

Could potentially be a wonderful line up. Would love to know where the others fell down. At a guess the US government would certainly frown upon the defence company being in Brazilian/Indian hands.

[robbreid]

Textron : Newsroom - Textron to Acquire Beechcraft?Significantly Expands General Aviation Business with Addition of Beechcraft Products and Services (http://investor.textron.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=110047&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1886990&highlight)

Deal includes Premier, Beechjet, Hawker, and Hawker 4000 lines!!!

[westhawk]

This was reported on AvWeb (http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Textron-Confirms-Beech-Acquisition-Updated221180-1.html?ET=avweb:e2711:308378a:&st=email) too. While support for the 4000 and Premier is reported, I didn't notice any mention of the Hawker 125 series or the 400 (nee Beechjet) either.

westhawk

[silverknapper]

Could think of a couple of possible reasons:

1. The 125 and 400 line was never on the market. Beech had decided the support business for them was too lucrative to give up. The composite lines were being actively touted.

2. The 125 is very similar to existing Cessna products. Mind you so is the premier i guess.

Only guesses. Good news though, particularly for the US and more so Wichita. Good to see an old pioneering airplane builder not end up in Brazilian hands.

[HawkerBeech1]

I think the specific mention of the 4000 and Premier lines is simply because they have always been represented as a potentially separate deal. The big question has always been would someone buy the 4000 and Premier separate or maybe someone would buy the rest of the company without dragging along the 4000 and Premier. This is good news for the 4000 owners....when there has only been bad news for them for some time.

I am assuming the 125 series is part of the deal.

Many questions remain. But potential for success is high IMO. It will also be nice to be owned by a company that is interested in aviation. Onex and Goldman Sachs were never concerned about HBC....just numbers.

[XEMS]

Maybe time to take a second look at those sub 7 million dollar Hawker 4000's??

[HawkerBeech1]

Are there any left? Talon Air snatched up most from what I remember. And I think for less than 7 million. There are several for sale Im sure but it would have been nice to buy low prior to this announcement.

And most of the major issues have been worked out. We haven't replaced a PDA on one in some time.

[dynamite dean]

Unfortunately for us were on our 5th PDA, 2 FQPM, , 2nd window , 4th spoiler actuator, 2nd crossfeed valve, major paint/composite repair .

Its is rocketship, perhaps second hand values will rise slightly with the news that;s about as much as I can see.

Our owner decided to sell, you just cant fly around with major problems kicking off like this - that said I have enjoyed the bird somewhat frustrating at times though, never flown such a temperamental aeroplane. Still light fuel load we take and pax 10 -12 degrees 250kTS at this time of year and we regularly see 6500+ft per min...so from this side its superb.

All the best and happy new year and god save us all for operators and owners of HA4t's alike!

[westhawk]

A further update on the sale of Beechcraft below. In short, it appears that the newly restructured organization will continue supporting all product lines, but have no plans to produce any more Hawkers. I guess we'll see what happens as the re-structuring progresses.

From Avweb: (http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/101/2713-full.html?ET=avweb:e2713:308378a:&st=email#221194)

Textron expects to gain $65 million to $85 million annually with the "synergy" of combining Cessna and Beechcraft into its new airplane company but it's not yet saying exactly where those savings might be realized. As we reported Thursday (http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Textron-Confirms-Beech-Acquisition-Updated221180-1.html), Textron is buying Beech for $1.4 billion. In a conference call with analysts on Friday (recording available by calling (320) 365-3844, access code 314378). Textron CEO Scott Donnelly said it's likely most of the money will come from savings that result from overlap of functions and premises but there have been no decisions on if and where cuts might be made at either company he acknowledged that cuts are coming. "The majority of the restructuring work is still to come but you're probably talking about an awful lot of costs that are severance-related," he said in answer to a question about when the synergy savings might be felt. Donnelly said that will take three to six months. Donnelly told the analysts that Beechcraft is a good fit for Textron by filling product gaps in Cessna's line with industry-leading aircraft like the King Air and T-6. He gave passing mention to the Bonanza and Baron lines but was clearly focused on what the King Air will do for Cessna. He also left no doubt that Beech's Hawker jet line will not resume production.
He said Beechcraft's decision to stop building jets made the company more attractive to Textron because it eliminated any kind of competitive overlap for Cessna and created a whole new world of customers for Citations. Part of the deal includes type certificates for Hawker Jets and the continued maintenance and support of that fleet. About a third of Beech's incomes comes from servicing the fleet of almost 36,000 Beech and Hawker aircraft still flying. Donnelly said Textron won't necessarily close service centers based on geographical overlap, noting that if Cessna and Beech service centers in the same area are both busy, there's no reason to close either of them.


westhawk http://cdn.avweb.com/media/ui/clearpixel.gif

[rak64]

Any news for the Premier II /Hawker 200 ?

Do they continue developing that model?
The updated systems or the the winglets as TC, that would bring some quick money.

In my view the merger Raytheon Beechcraft is an example of failed integration of 2 companies. I see it as a kind of turf battle of the plastic fraction against the metal front. 2 products Beechjet and Premier but no decision for 1 model,
the incredible delay in the Horizon development, than announced the XPR instead focus onto the Hawker 200 and at least despite saying creasing jet production still offering the 400XPR and the 800XPR on their website.
I guess plastic vs. metal catch it well.Hope it will stop under the new owner.

[robbreid]

Nothing is set in stone yet pending government approvals of the sale, however my understanding is all of the jets have already been discontinued.

Going forward, Beechcraft will provide parts and maintenance for the Beechjet, Hawkers, Premiers, Hawker 4000's.

There are zero plans for restarting any of the bizjets that Beechcraft oversaw, as they would compete with the Cessna jets. Their hope is - as King Air owners step up too jets, they buy Citations.