Canadian plane and train maker Bombardier Inc will sell its money-losing regional jet business to Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd for $550 million in cash, the companies said on Tuesday. Montreal-based Bombardier has been selling some of its businesses and recently combined its aviation units to focus more on profitable business jets and passenger rail cars, after facing a cash-crunch in 2015 while bringing its flagship commercial jet to the market.
The company's regional jet program (CRJ) has no orders beyond 2020. Nevertheless, CRJ's profitable aftermarket sales and engineering expertise would be useful for Mitsubishi, which is trying to develop and certify its delayed regional jet program, the MRJ.
As part of the deal, which is expected to close in the first half of next year, the Japanese firm will also take over a $200 million debt. The deal would be a boost for Japan's civil aviation ambitions, even as Canada exits the market for commercial jetliners with less than 100 seats.
Bombardier and Mitsubishi had previously said they were holding talks over the regional jet program, confirming a report in industry news site The Air Current. Mitsubishi is trying to develop its long-delayed MRJ regional jet program, which has been rebranded as "SpaceJet."
Comments
Comments are closed.