A saviour for diesel propulsion manufacturer Thielert Aircraft Engines may be about to emerge. A spokesman for the German company's administrator says "several" prospective bidders have submitted letters of intent, with "purchase prices within the range the administrator is expecting" a statement on the sale is expected "shortly".
A total of 24 potential investors had by late July signed a confidentiality agreement to receive financial details on the company. However, Diamond Aircraft, Thielert's biggest customer and the only general aviation manufacturer to fit its Centurion engine as original equipment, rules out taking over its former supplier.
It comes as Austro Engine, the engine maker set up by Diamond, prepares to deliver its two-litre Jet A1-powered AE 300, an alternative to the Centurion. The Austrian company's marketing and sales director Markus Hergeth expects European Aviation Safety Agency certification this month.
There are 2,000 Thielert engines powering Diamond's DA40 and DA42 aircraft, retrofitted Pipers and Cessnas, and versions of General Atomics' Predator unmanned air vehicle.
Source: Flight International
