GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC
Rival manufacturer Safire receives $100 million offer to support development of its S-26
Nimbus Group has received a $1.2 billion commitment to finance the 1,000 Eclipse 500 personal jets on order for its planned US nationwide air taxi service, Nimbus Jets. The 20-year financing will be provided by Dafin Asset Finance, an affiliate of the Royal Bank of Scotland International and a specialist in business aircraft deals.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Nimbus says Dafin offered to "overfinance" the order, providing $1.2 million per aircraft compared with the $837,000 price quoted by manufacturer Eclipse Aviation. Financing will be made available as Eclipse assigns tail numbers to aircraft on the assembly line. Deliveries will begin in early 2004.
Eclipse, meanwhile, has completed assembly of the lower cabin for the first Eclipse 500. This marks the first production use of friction stir welding of thin-gauge aircraft aluminium. The technology eliminates rivets and reduces assembly cost, helping the company meet its aggressive price target. First flight is expected in July, leading to US certification in December 2003.
Nimbus needs to raise $10 million to establish the infrastructure for its air taxi service and is looking at either acquiring an existing Part 135 operator or obtaining its own operating certification. The company also has an option to invest in Eclipse, but did not during the most recent financing round which took the manufacturer's funding beyond the $180 million mark.
Rival Safire Aircraft, meanwhile, says it is considering an offer of over $100 million in financing to support development of its S-26 personal jet. The offer is one of two received after the company launched a drive to convert the status of customer deposits from refundable to non-refundable in a bid to boost its financing efforts.
The West Palm Beach, Florida-based company says deposits on 438 out of 896 assigned delivery positions had been converted to non-refundable status by late January. These were followed by two offers for financing in excess of $100 million, one of which is still on the table, the company says.
While efforts to raise additional external funding continue, the company says the original investor group "can, in fact, finance the entire programme". The group includes Alexander Margaritoff, chief executive of German wine importer Hawesko Holding, and Dimitri Margaritoff, head of German venture capitalists Venmar.Safire was founded by Michael Margaritoff, who was chief executive until last June.
First flight of the S-26 twinjet is scheduled for June 2003, with US certification expected a year later.
Source: Flight International
