Beech Remains An American Company... Sigh Of Relief Heard All The Way From Kansas

Well... its official -- a number of media reports have confirmed that Scott Donnelly and Textron have pulled the trigger and bought Beechcraft, less than a year after the GA and BizAv planemaker emerged from bankruptcy with the intention to retool itself as a piston and turbine manufacturer -- and get out of the jet business.

Wichita seems to be breathing easier, amid concerns that other suitors, mostly Embraer or Mahindra (or worse, an unnamed Chinese player), might have wound up with the company and created even more uncertainty for the local employment scene than there had been already.

Beechcraft, some 5400 employees strong at this point, employed Credit Suisse to look for suitors for the jet side of the business and was known to be on Donnelly's radar for some months. For the moment there is little info as to what Donnelly and company will do with the 80 year old aircraft legend.

Of course, Textron also holds the purse strings for Cessna... so the resultant reconfiguration of the companies (as either separate but cooperative entities... or as a merged airplane powerhouse) offers some enticing as well as worrisome prospects. Cessna's 'strengths' in piston aircraft and biz jets does not bode well for the G-36 Bonanza and, potentially, the G58 Baron... but since Beech was getting out of the jet biz, those synergies remain pretty positive.

However; the continued and sustained power of the Beech King Air series, as opposed to Cessna's lack of a multi-engine turbo-prop line, also seems like it offers some solid potential for Textron, overall. Beech's foothold in the military market is also a major plus for Textron, especially in light of recent efforts in that market segment. The big question, though, is what happens to the individual companies, their leaders, the staffing and their current business plans?

No one is talking (Textron and Beech are officially not commenting--to anyone) and there will be a line of journalists, industry players and management level job seekers at Donnelly's door, come Monday, to try and get some inkling of the thoughts and plans this purchase will allow -- and who might be put in charge of the changes to come (especially with the negative buzz created by some of Scott Ernst's brutally honest and somewhat rudely voiced statements at NBAA 2103 -- which gave rise to a series of rumors that he would be sent packing in short order).

ANN will have more info on this story as soon as someone starts speaking up.... but it could be a LONG holiday...

FMI: www.textron.com, www.beechcraft.com, www.cessna.com