By Danny
Big news for Ogden this morning:
General Dynamics to buy Switzerland's Jet Aviation:
WASHINGTON (AP) - Defense contractor General Dynamics said Tuesday it will buy Jet Aviation for about $2.25 billion in cash, seeking to expand its Gulfstream jet business and tap into fast-growing overseas demand for luxury private planes.(Jet Av recently announced they were going to the Ogden Airport in place of the defunct Adam Air.)
With the purchase of Zurich-based Jet Aviation, General Dynamics adds a worldwide network of aircraft maintenance centers and service centers where wealthy individuals and cash-rich governments can outfit private jets with plush interiors and custom features.
Falls Church, Va.-based General Dynamics will acquire all of Jet Aviation's shares from current owner Dreamliner Lux S.a.r.l, a company controlled by the British investment fund Permira Funds. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year if it clears regulatory scrutiny.
So that means General Di will be at the Ogden Airport. Pretty big stuff.
8 comments:
"The Devil's in the Details." I'm not going to celebrate until I know for sure that Jet Aviation will remain committed to coming to Ogden. With a new owner, who says that will actually happen?
Good catch, Danny!
The only thing missing from the story now is Boss Godfrey, stepping up and taking credit for engineering the acquistion.
More aerospace news:
"Salt Lake City-based developer Woodbury Corp., will be seeking aerospace and aerospace research companies to set up shop right next to a base ..."
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700250664,00.html
How might this affect Hinckley: good, bad indifferent?
George K:
Yup. Remains to be seen if the new owners intend to keep the old management, and to keep in place the old management's expansion plans. I certainly hope so, but I'm not ready to get out the party balloons and tap a keg until we know for sure. Sometimes in buyouts like these, the new owners bought the company because of its successful management, and they keep it in place, becoming owners but not day to day managers of the acquired business. Hope that's what's happening here.
If so, when it becomes clear Jet Aviation's Ogden plans are still in place, if Hizzonah wants to do a little crowing about helping to recruit Jet Aviation [which then became GD], and to throw a party at Dolittles, I'd be delighted to raise a glass in celebration with him... provided he's buying of course.
It's good news for the airport, and for stability there.
But is it good news that the executives of one of the world's largest companies will be coming here, tramping around, and acting like they own the place? Is it good news that they will expect to roll the city council for whatever they want? Will the undeveloped East Bench be safe? Will the GenDi fat cats be energized (like the Geigers) at the chance to despoil another paradise and recreate it in their own concrete and asphalt image?
I suspect they will fulfill existing agreements and go into the airport. Saving Kemp's joint is better than seeing it fold. But while this is big news, it's not necessarily good news. Unless one longs for yet another LA.
The troubling part of the article is the news that GD(the buyer) has 11 large jet service centers in the US already and apparently are buying JA because of JA's overseas installations.
We might get a better hint of what is to come by finding out just where in the US the GD facilities are and seeing how a Northern Utah shop might fit in with their others. (Are you there google boy?)
Here's hoping that they do come to town after the dust settles, even tho they are not High Adventure oriented and may hurt our reputation.
General Dynamics does have a full service facility at Las Vegas. Opening up another facility in Ogden will most likely depend on how busy the Las Vegas facility is, how much new business will come with the acquired company, work forces in both places, costs of opening Ogden versus expanding Las Vegas and I suppose many other considerations including geographic ones. It is only about 400 miles to Las Vegas, not much considering the jets this company services.
Hopefully Ogden will not remain a bridesmaid on this one.
General Dynamics has no FBO facilities in Vegas or anywhere else. That's why they bought Jet Services. Other General Dynamics facilities--including the one in Vegas--are specialized facilities for specific business jets, mostly General Dynamics Gulfstream line. An FBO/maintenance facility is totally different. It's like an MD general practitioner compared to a brain surgeon. General Dynamics will operate Jet Services as an independent division, similar to what Berkshire Hathaway did when they purchased RC Willey 20 years ago. Jet Services customers won't see a lot of difference in how things operate. A larger factor in Jet Services coming to Ogden is the economy.
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