Business & GA

[Correction: The original article incorrectly linked private equity firm AAI Acquisitions to Textron subsidiary AAI Corp. In fact, the two firms are not related.]

AAI Acquisitions is the new owner of Adam Aircraft after it bid successfully for the bankrupt aircraft manufacturer.

The $10 million purchase brings Adam, producer of the A500 piston twin and A700 very light jet, into the new portfolio of AAI, a new-start private equity firm.

The terms of AAI's buyout of Denver-based Adam do not require any of Adam's 650 workers in three locations to be rehired.

The last Adam employee was laid off in February, coinciding with the company's Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, which followed an intense search in January for more than $100 million of new capital.

The sale is set for approval at a hearing on 9 April.

Adam's "make production fly" campaign had begun to push out its eighth A500 and certification of the A700 was hoped for in late 2008.

That VLJ may yet launch a trio of air taxi operators and promote the aircraft as it competes with the Eclipse 500.