Among aviation, aerospace and defense companies in 2014 divestitures and spin-offs were strong, in part, due to the desire to exit businesses directly impacted by sequestration. There was also strong transaction activity in the fragmented and high-margin maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) business supported by rising passenger traffic and higher utilization rates in growing regions.
According to First Research, an industry research organization, Aircraft makers based in China and Japan are taking on longtime incumbents Embraer and Bombardier in the regional jet market. Mitsubishi Aircraft expects to begin test flights of a 76 to 88-seat regional jet in the second quarter of 2015, with deliveries beginning in 2017. The company has set the goal of attaining 50 percent of the global market for regional jets over the next 20 years, according to The Wall Street Journal. Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) is also readying a new regional jet; the company recently took new orders for a 75- to 90-seat aircraft that is expected to be certified by 2015. COMAC hopes to capture booming demand for regional jets in China, a market that Embraer recently forecast will account for 16 percent of the global market for 70 to 130-seat jets by 2033.
Posted by Joe Contaldo.
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