Grob Aerospace’s new owner is promising to revitalise the German aircraft manufacturer’s product range and push the flagship SPn business jet into the North American market.

Swiss-based Executive Jet Investments (EJI) already owns a 50% stake in the SPn and is renaming itself Grob Aerospace. EJI chief executive Niall Olver also heads Swiss business aviation services company ExecuJet, which sells the SPn outside North America.

Olver says the acquisition – which leaves the founding Grob family with a small minority share – will turn the Bavarian manufacturer into a “fully-fledged OEM” with a global presence. Grob’s existing management team will stay, and 20 sales and marketing staff are being taken on.

The SPn will remain Grob’s main focus – the company says it has orders to meet the first two years of production, around 50 aircraft. But Olver says the new ownership will give Grob the opportunity to market more aircraft models, including the certificated G140 turboprop single and special mission variants.

Source: Flight International