Textron's Cessna Completes Acquisition of Columbia Aircraft Assets

It's official. It's done. It's OVAH! Cessna Aircraft Company has finalized its purchase of select assets of Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Company.

Cessna's auction bid of $26.4 million for the Bend, Oregon-based producer of high-performance, single-engine aircraft was accepted by court order on Nov. 28 by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon. Company officials spent the past week finalizing the acquisition.

With the deal now closed, Cessna notes that the Bend factory will carry the Cessna name and the Columbia products will be branded as the Cessna 350 and the Cessna 400. These two low-wing, turbocharged aircraft will complement Cessna's existing line of eight piston models. Cessna also manufactures turboprops and the world's best-selling line of business jets, the Cessna Citation.

Cessna Parts Distribution and the Cessna network of authorized dealers and service centers have already begun plans to integrate sales and support of the new Cessna 350 and Cessna 400 aircraft.

FMI: www.cessna.com, www.flycolumbia.com