Bell Helicopter Textron has signed an agreement with the Romanian State Ownership Fund to buy the Romanian Government's 70% stake in Brasov-based helicopter manufacturer IAR.
The agreement, signed on 21 May, comes together with the award of a Romanian Government contract to Bell for the purchase of 96 AH-1RO Dracula attack helicopters - a derivative of the AH-1W Supercobra in service with the US Marine Corps.
The remaining 30% of IAR is divided among private shareholders, many of whom are company employees, and the parliament-administered Private Ownership Fund. Bell says that this is unlikely to change for the moment, declining to confirm IAR's earlier statements that the US company also wants to buy the Private Ownership Fund's 4.75% stake.
The purchase and the Cobra contract need approval from the US State Department allowing licence-manufacture of the AH-1RO in Romania, and clearance from the Textron board. The US firm says that IAR will become "a manufacturing source for Bell and other Textron divisions".
Bell declines to be specific about what work packages are involved, although it is understood that they could include subassembly and component manufacture for Bell Canada, and Cessna.
The US manufacturer says that IAR "-will honour prior contracts and commitments". The company has a tradition of co-operation with Eurocopter France, having licence-manufactured Puma and Alouette helicopters since the 1970s, and is now working on a seven-year upgrade programme for Romanian army Pumas.
Bell declines to reveal how much it will pay for the IAR stake, although IAR had said that the US manufacturer's original offer in February was $70 million. It is expected to invest $12.5 million in upgrading IAR's equipment.
Source: Flight International
