Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), is continuing its rapid expansion with the $1.9 billion acquisition of Standard Aero and Landmark Aviation, which will be merged under the Middle Eastern group’s technical subsidiary DAE Engineering.
It is acquiring engine maintenance firm Standard Aero and business aviation maintenance provider Landmark Aviation from private equity company The Carlyle Group.
Standard Aero handles commercial aircraft engines such as the General Electric CF34, the Rolls-Royce AE3007 and Model 250, and Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PW100 and PT6. It also deals with certain propellers, auxiliary power units and other systems.
The company’s commercial engine MRO operation is based in Winnipeg. Standard Aero’s facilities are primarily located in Canada and the USA but it also has a handful of sites in Europe, southeast Asia and Australia.
Carlyle took over Standard Aero three years ago after UK private equity company Doughty Hanson split up Dunlop Standard Aerospace, handing Meggitt the design and manufacturing division and Carlyle the Standard Aero engine repair unit.
Arizona-based Landmark Aviation offers servicing for executive aviation, including a range of Dassault, Bombardier and Raytheon types, and maintenance capabilities on Saab, Fokker, Dornier and Embraer regional aircraft.
The company has four primary maintenance stations in the USA and its services include the Dallas-based completion division Associated Air Centre, which provides interiors for corporate Boeing Business Jets and Airbus Corporate Jetliners.
It also has a fixed-base operations business, covering 33 sites in the USA and Canada, but under the DAE acquisition plan this activity will be divested.
Standard Aero and Landmark Aviation each employ around 2,500 personnel. The acquisition, says DAE chief executive Bob Johnson, will provide a “critical platform” enabling the Dubai-based company to take advantage of maintenance business growth worldwide.
DAE intends to merge the two companies into a single operation. The combined businesses, to be led by Standard Aero’s Paul Soubry, will provide a network of 12 main centres around the world supported by 14 regional facilities.
“This is a significant step forward in our strategy which reinforces the progress that DAE has achieved so far, and for sure it will not be the last one,” says DAE managing director Oman Bin Sulaiman.
DAE was one of three Middle Eastern companies participating in the consortium which took control of maintenance provider SR Technics last year.
Since its creation last year DAE has aggressively pursued a series of acquisitions to build a presence in six aerospace sectors:
- airports
- aircraft leasing
- engineering
- manufacturing
- training and services
Source: FlightGlobal.com
