The sale agreement was signed in July, and the transaction was also assessed by the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS), which allowed the entry of a Hungarian partner in August.
“Aero will continue to develop all three pillars of its business, which are the production and development of its own aircraft, as well as MRO orders for aircraft maintenance and repairs, as well as aerostructures production programs, ie the supply of aircraft components to domestic and foreign customers,” said which has so far led the company Era, which manufactures and develops air traffic control systems. Under his leadership, the company achieved record sales and doubled the number of employees.
Aero Vodochody spokesman Tobiáš Tvrdík confirmed previous information published in the media, according to which Omnipol acquires a 20% stake in HSC Aerojet and an 80% stake will be controlled by a Hungarian group secured by the Hungarian Development Bank, which indicates Hungary’s interest in further cooperation.
The Hungarian Development Bank has provided a loan of EUR 150 million. Aero was visited by a Hungarian delegation on Wednesday, and the Hungarian army has previously expressed interest in twelve L-39NG aircraft. Hungary gradually used all types of jets made in Aero.
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Omnipol is Aero’s long-term partner responsible for business activities in a number of countries and has also been a strategic partner of the L-39NG project since 2015. Penta Aero owned it for fourteen years, it acquired it after privatization. This year, Aero will start mass production of the new L-39NG aircraft. For example, it also has contracts for repairs and modernization of 35 L-39 and L-159 aircraft for customers in the Czech Republic and abroad. It also supplies, for example, the C-390 Millennium military aircraft, the Airbus A220 civil aircraft, the ST Engineering Aerospace company or the Aircraft Industries company for the Czech L-410 aircraft manufacturer.
According to the latest published financial results from the previous year, the company made a loss, due, among other things, to significant investments in the certification of the new L-39NG aircraft. The operating loss before depreciation amounted to 383 million crowns, total revenues reached 2.9 billion crowns.
Aero has not yet published its results for last year. It originally assumed a return to profit, but partly due to the effects of a pandemic that stopped or significantly slowed down some transactions, according to preliminary estimates, the economy will again be loss-making, but the loss should be lower than in 2019.
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