Wed, Mar 18, 2009
CACC Rumored To Be Interested In Bidding For Assets
A government-sponsored Chinese aircraft manufacturing concern
may soon mount a bid for the assets of now-defunct Eclipse
Aviation.
The Albuquerque Journal reports Commercial Aircraft Corporation
of China -- an offshoot of the consolidation of the former AVIC I
and AVIC II aerospace companies -- has expressed interest in
submitting a bid for the troubled planemaker.
As ANN reported, CACC was formed in May 2008,
and tasked with producing a large commercial airliner to rival the
likes of Boeing and Airbus by 2020. If CACC does submit a bid for
Eclipse's assets in the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, it's
unclear how a small jet would fit into those plans... though it
seems a safe bet China would be interested in certain parts of the
aircraft, if not the package as a whole.
Specifically, the Eclipse 500's small Pratt & Whitney Canada
PW610F turbofans -- arguably the most impressive technology on the
entire aircraft, and certainly among the least-problematic -- may
raise eyebrows in China, and in the US... where lawmakers would
likely express reservations about sharing an item that could be
mounted to weaponry, like cruise missiles.
Whether CACC submits a bid will depend on what limits may be
imposed on such transfers of technology, sources told the Journal.
It's worth noting the US government apparently had no such
concerns, however, when Eclipse announced plans last year to build
a now-stillborn manufacturing plant in Ulyanovsk, Russia.
Eclipse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November.
That filing was converted to
a Chapter 7 liquidation two weeks ago; since
then,
at least three other entities have risen up
with plans to bid for Eclipse's assets, in hopes of salvaging at
least part of the company and turn it into a profitable
enterprise.
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