Julian Moxon/MADRID
British Aerospace, Aerospatiale of France, Italy's Alenia and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace of Germany are all candidates for the purchase of up to 100% of CASA from Spanish holding company SEPI, the aero-structures manufacturer has revealed.
CASA chairman Alberto Fernandez tells Flight International "...there is no particular scheme for the privatisation process", and that SEPI may allow more than one European company to buy in. "There is no plan to sell to the USA," says Fernandez.
With CASA to be privatised "almost certainly before the end of the year", the manufacturer has released financial figures for last year which Fernandez says mean "...we will make a lovely bride for whoever takes us over".
CASA's turnover rose 8.3% to 167,747 million Ptas ($1.1 billion) last year, 89% coming from exports. Profits were the highest in the company's 75-year history, up 20% to 7,798 million Ptas. Fernandez says the company is in "outstanding" financial health after the "terrible years" of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when it consistently lost money. Growth areas are seen as military transports, mission systems and aerostructures.
"Our target is to increase sales to around $1.8 billion by 2002," says Fernandez. "With a solid business strategy and strong performance we will not have to change significantly with the new ownership."
• CASA's Seville plant and Toulouse, St Nazaire and Hamburg are short-listed for Airbus A3XX final assembly, Fernandez says. Seville has already been selected for assembly of the Airbus Military Company A400M.
Source: Flight International
