Receivers at FOKKER Aircraft have decided to put the bankrupt company's 48.8%share in Belgian aerospace manufacturer SABCA up for sale. It is not yet clear whether the shares will be floated on the stock market or placed directly with an investor.
SABCA says that there are "several" prospective buyers, although the company's French joint owner Dassault Aviation says that it has no plans to add to its 53%holding.
The Belgian company, which is valued at around BFr2.4 billion ($69 million), in 1996 earned BFr318 million on sales of BFr7.8 billion. Results for 1997 are expected to be comparable.
SABCA has been licence-building fighters for the Belgian air force since the 1950s, and is working on the Lockheed Martin F-16 mid-life update for the Belgian air force, as well as modernisation programmes for Indonesian Northrop F-5s and Spanish Dassault Mirage F1s.
The company has also been diversifying into space and civil-aerostructures work.
Source: Flight International
