BBA Aviation has ended talks to acquire parts of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), understood to be the Gulf company's US MRO arm, Standard Aero.
The discussions, confirmed in late August, would have brought about a merger of Standard Aero with BBA's aftermarket services business, which includes brands such as Dallas Airmotive and Premier Turbines.
The Dubai-based business bought Standard Aero from Carlyle Group in 2007 as part of a strategy to create a global aerospace services group. However, the emirate's 2010 financial crisis forced a retrenchment of DAE's ambitions - an aviation college was among newly-established ventures that were shut and DAE's airliner leasing division, DAE Capital, cancelled orders. DAE Capital and Standard Aero are now the group's sole businesses.
Standard Aero includes Associated Air Center in Dallas, which specialises in the completion of Airbus and Boeing corporate jets, and a number of business aircraft service facilities. The company also specialises in engine and auxilliary power unit overhauls and maintenance.
Joe Spooner, an equities analyst with Jefferies International, says the merger would have created "significant synergy opportunities", adding $1.6 billion of sales to BBA's $2.2 billion revenue base.
UK-based BBA also owns component manufacturer Ontic and business aviation flight support network Signature.
Source: Flight International
