Deal Collapsed When Membership Numbers Revealed

ANN’s April 1 “April Fool” Special Edition

Documents obtained by ANN reveal that a group of Chinese investors made a bid to purchase AOPA last year, but the deal collapsed when the potential buyers got ahold of the organization’s books.

The documents reveal that the investors, who are prominent in the nascent but growing Chinese general aviation industry, decided they needed some kind of an advocacy group should the Chinese government ever actually allowed open lobbying. And as one of the longest-established such groups in the U.S., they thought AOPA would be an ideal acquisition target. Rather than approach the association about expanding into China, they launched a takeover bid. “That’s just the way we do things these days,” said an investor who gave himself the name Zhang Wei in many of the leaked emails. “We just see something we like, particularly in America, and we buy it. Look at Continental Motors and Cirrus.”

Because of the clandestine nature of the emails, it is difficult to determine exactly who the individuals are, however they were obviously connected with aviation in China.

But the deal apparently fell apart when the group began to dig into the association’s numbers, particularly in terms of membership. “We thought it was a great model looking from the outside, but it appears that people are leaving the organization in droves,” Zhang said in an email to the group. “We should pull back and look at another organization to buy.”

AOPA president and CEO Mark Baker would neither confirm or deny that he had entertained an offer from the Chinese investors. “But one thing I learned in the business world is that everything is for sale, if the price is right. And if such a thing were to happen, it certainly wouldn’t be cheap,” Baker said.

FMI: www.aopa.org