Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH
After almost a year of talks, US agricultural and utility aircraft manufacturer Ayres has completed the purchase of 93.6% of Czech regional aircraft producer Let Kunovice.
The US company says that it has taken over Let's long-term debt as part of the deal, but declines to disclose the amount paid for its stake. Ayres has acquired shares belonging to Aero Holding and the state-owned Konsolidacni bank, while the remainder stays in the hands of small shareholders, each owning less than 1% of the company.
Ayres says it initially saw Let as a good partner for the production of components of its LM-200 Loadmaster utility aircraft, but realised that Let's own products - the 19-seat L-410/420 and the 40-seat L-610G twin turboprops - "complement" the Ayres aircraft.
"The L-420 and L-610G, when combined with the LM-200 Loadmaster, will provide us with a great product line of rugged utility aircraft," says Ayres director of international sales Tex Guthrie.
The US company plans to manage product support, sales and marketing activities for Let products from its site in Albany, Georgia, to speed up response times and improve spares support. Company president Fred Ayres says, however, that he will also maintain marketing capacity at Kunovice, and does not plan any job cuts.
Let now employs 1,700 people, and its assets total some $110 million. Ayres estimates that the companies' combined revenues should exceed $100 million. Let president Zdenek Pernica will remain.
There are some 1,000 L-410s in operation in over 40 countries, and its newer stablemate, the Westernised L-420, received its US certification in May. The General Electric CT7-powered L-610G is now expected to gain US Federal Aviation Administration certification within a year.
Fred Ayres says that the L-610G will be on display at the Farnborough air show in early September. "We hope to leave the show with a launch customer," he adds.
Ayres plans to incorporate the L-410 fin and the L-610 horizontal stabiliser into the LM-200 design, saying they are close to the designs originally planned for the Loadmaster. Windtunnel tests incorporating the components are to be carried out at the end of August.
Manufacture of the first three Loadmaster prototypes is under way at Albany, with the wing, empennage and certain fuselage elements being manufactured by Let. A new plant will be built in Dothan, Alabahama, for full-scale production.
Source: Flight International
