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Aviation History
1990
1990 - 0074.PDF
BUSINESS Avibras seeks creditor protection Avibras has filed for pro Lection Xi.from its creditors in a Brazil ian bankruptcy court. The com pany, a major defence equipment manufacturer, says that it has debts of $200 million. The company, best known for the production of the ASTROS II artillery saturation rocket system, has been severely hit by the ending of the Gulf War. Sales in this area of business dropped to an estimated $40 million last year, compared with $355 mil lion at the height of the Iraq/Iran war in 1987. Iraq has been its principal cus tomer for a number of years, with orders for ASTROS II systems alone running to well over $600 million. The Iraqis now produce the rocket under licence. Outside the artillery rocket business Avibras has widespread activities involving a space sat- Thefall in ASTROS sales to Iraq has hit Avibras ellite and launcher joint venture with China Great Wall, electro- optics and laser systems produc tion, off-road vehicles, anti aircraft systems and fibre-optics. Pedro Vial, Avibras finance director, says that the company owes around $130 million to local banks and $70 million to suppliers. • Thomson-CSF completes acquisition of Signaal Thomson-CSF has acquired Dutch electronics group Philips' three main defence activ ities. The final agreement be tween the two sides was signed on 5 January. The French company has taken an 80% stake in Hollandse Signaalapparaten, a 49% interest in the defence activities of MBLE in Belgium and a 99% holding in the Dutch company's French subsidiary, TRT. All the activities have been merged into a new company called Thomson-TRT Defense. Philips' Usfa encryption activities are excluded from the Thomson deal. Thomson-CSF says that Signaal is now a "centre of ex cellence" within the group, particularly for naval systems and radar technology. In 1988, Signaal had sales of Fr2.7 billion ($4.5 billion) and maintained a staff of 4,800. Sales of TRT's defence activities, which include opto-electronics, radio navigation equipment and communication equipment, amounted to more than Frl.2 billion last year, within a total consolidated turnover of Fr4 bil lion. About 1,900 people are in volved in TRT's defence activities. MBLE's defence activ ities cover communications, air borne radar and electronics for munitions. Total turnover of the company was Fr600 million. The defence activities of the company will join a Thomson- CSF group which recorded sales of Fr33 billion in 1988 and em ployed 38,000, making it Eu rope's largest defence systems manufacturer. Thomson-CSF is continuing negotiations with Ferranti Inter national over a possible ac quisition of the ailing UK defence electronics company. MEL of the UK remains the only European defence activity still owned by Philips. European and US companies interested in acquiring MEL have been visit ing the company in recent weeks. Philips is still attempting to sell its US activities. • LanChile stake continues SAS alliance build-up Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) is to acquire a 15.3% holding in Chilean national car rier LanChile, in a deal valued at $15 million. SAS is taking a 30% stake in Icarosan, a company owned by Chilean financier Guillermo Carey and financial institutions, which itself acquired a '51% hold ing in LanChile last September when the state-owned carrier was privatised. State holding company Corfo sold the 51% stake for $42.5 million. Icarosan conducted the negotiations with SAS assistance. SAS will get two directors on LanChile's nine-man board. The share is expected to be com pleted at the end of this month and will allow an expansion of the Scandinavian airline's inter national route co-operation. The tie-up with LanChile is the latest in a series of co-opera tion deals by SAS involving Texas Air, Finnair, Thai Inter national, Varig, All Nippon and Swissair. The airline also has a large stake in Airlines of Britain, the parent company of British Midland Airways. • Snecma takes control at FN Snecma has acquired a control ling interest in FN Moteurs, the aero-engine division of the Belgian small-arms manu facturer. The French engine producer will take a 51% stake in FN Moteurs; Fabrique Nationale itself will maintain a 42.5% in terest, with the remaining shareholding being held by the Walloon regional government. • NEWS IN BRIEF HAWAIIAN AIRLINES HAL Acquisition, an investor group led by Peter Ueberroth and airline executive Thomas Talbot, has purchased HAL, the parent company of Hawai ian Airlines. The total value of the acquisition is.put at $37 million. Talbot becomes presi dent and chief executive offi cer of the airline. ALIBLU TAKErOVER , Italian domestic carrier Aliblu has been acquired by Avianova—a 50/50 venture between Alisarda and Alitalia. Several routes are to be closed and the more profitable ab sorbed into Avianova's net work. Aliblu's four BAe Jetstream 3ls will be sold. EMS PURCHASE Omniflight, the second-largest US helicopter air medical transport provider, has ac quired the third-ranked com pany in the sector, SilverStar Aviation. Together, the com bined fleet of the two compa nies totals nearly 100 single and twin-turbine helicopters. SMITHS DEAL Smiths Industries has signed a $4.5 million agreement with Ovonic Imaging Systems (OIS) of the USA to ensure access to flat-panel technology for cockpit displays. The Brit ish company will take a $2.5 million stake in OIS and pro vide $2 million for the development and supply of flat-panel colour displays. 16 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 17-23 January 1990
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