Susanna Ray over at Bloomberg has written a bang-on good piece about how Rockwell Collins is seeking acquisitions.
Key pars (but do read the entire article):
Rockwell Collins Inc., the maker of cockpit instruments and radios, is looking for "bolt-on, tuck- in acquisitions" after generating a record level of operating cash flow, Chief Executive Officer Clay Jones said.This got me to thinking. In light of Rockwell Collins' recent comments to me about how it is interested in potentially offering seat-back IFE on single-aisle aircraft, should the company think about broaching Lumexis and/or IMS or others?
"There's a good pipeline of opportunities out there, and we're definitely looking for those opportunities," Jones said in an interview today, declining to specify which areas the company would target. "We have plenty of capacity."
Rockwell Collins director of cabin systems marketing Andrew Mohr said the firm's vast experience in providing IFE and connectivity solutions to the business jet market means that there is "a lot of in-house technology that could be very applicable to enhancing either in-seat or overhead [commercial IFE] so we don't have to go with a partner" but he noted that there are "also good partnering opportunities as well".
Lumexis and IMS have some pretty nifty IFE offerings, including the fiber-to-the-screen (FTTS) system and RAVE, respectively, for example. I'm not suggesting for one second that either of them are asking to be bought, ahem.
But Rockwell Collins currently only offers drop-down IFE. Is it time for Rockwell Collins to get back into the seat-back IFE game?
Recent Comments