TEXTRON veut acheté PIPISTREL!

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TEXTRON veut acheté PIPISTREL!

Messagepar VMF-214 » Jeu 17 Mar, 2022 11:17

Textron To Acquire Pipistrel

Kate O'Connor
March 17, 2022

Textron has entered into an agreement to purchase Slovenia-based aircraft developer and manufacturer Pipistrel. Pipistrel, which has long been on the forefront of the development of electric and hybrid electric aircraft, became the first company to earn a type certificate for a fully electric aircraft with the Velis Electro in June 2020. Following its acquisition of the company, Textron plans to form Textron eAviation, a new business segment that will focus on the development of sustainable aircraft.

“Pipistrel puts Textron in a uniquely strong position to develop technologies for the sustainable aviation market and develop a variety of new aircraft to meet a wide range of customer missions,” said Textron Chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly. “Today’s announcement supports Textron’s long-term strategy to offer a family of sustainable aircraft for urban air mobility, general aviation, cargo and special mission roles.”
Donnelly also noted that Textron plans to maintain Pipistrel’s brand, headquarters, research and development, and manufacturing operations in Slovenia and Italy along with making additional investments for the development and production of future products. Pipistrel founder and CEO Ivo Boscarol will remain a minority shareholder and Chairman Emeritus. According to Textron, Boscarol will be consulting on future product plans and strategies for a two-year period. Subject to regulatory approval, the deal is expected to close during the second quarter of 2022.
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Re: TEXTRON veut acheté PIPISTREL!

Messagepar VMF-214 » Jeu 17 Mar, 2022 17:14

Textron Buying Pipistrel Changes Everything

The aviation manufacturing industry as we knew it is over.

By: Isabel Goyer, UPDATED MARCH 17, 2022

If you’re tempted to skim over the news that Textron Inc. and not Textron Aviation has purchased Slovenian aircraft maker Pipistrel, stop it right now. It is the biggest industry news story to come out in many years.

Just for the lay of the land, Textron Inc., which is a highly diversified $10 jillion company, owns Textron Aviation. Under the Textron Aviation umbrella are a few companies, three of which are makers of general aviation aircraft, Cessna Aircraft, Beechcraft and Bell Helicopter. Those are inarguably three of the biggest brands in the history of aviation.

Pipistrel will not being joining them as a fourth aircraft manufacturing company under the Textron Aviation banner; instead, it will be the foundation for a new business, which Textron plans to call Textron eAviation. Unlike the Joby’s and Openers and other eVTOL startups of the world—if you can keep them straight in your head, kudos—Textron eAviation will start business with type and production certificated aircraft, well, a few of them, actually.

While Pipistrel makes some award-winning gas-piston powered aircraft, its biggest mainstream claim to fame by far is the certified and in-production Velis Electro, an all-electric two-seat training aircraft that comes complete with its own entourage, that is, an integrated charging system. It is, ahem, a plug-and-play solution.

Before I go into any more detail, let me list the other worldwide aircraft makers with a certificated, in-production model. Yup, there are none. There are no others who even have a type certificate (the approval of the aircraft itself) never mind a production certificate (the regulator’s approval of how you build the aircraft). That’s right, not Boeing, not Airbus, not Embraer, not any other company. And that’s not even talking small-plane makers, few of whom have even started talking about the concept.

As I’ve written before, the time is now to get into this game, and those companies that don’t could wind up being very sorry. And those companies that do could wind up being very sorry. It’s a classic business dilemma: Do you invest in extremely expensive-to-produce future tech now and risk bankrupting your company, or do you wait to see how that emerging tech shakes out before you invest, at the risk of being so far behind the game that you become irrelevant? There is no easy answer. The record is replete with object lessons on both sides of the billion-dollar coin.

Textron has the advantage of having the capital, the infrastructure and the institutional knowledge to make this happen—and if this segment goes belly up, Textron has the might to weather that reversal.

The terms were not released, but Pipistrel founder Ivo Boscarol, who will stay on for a couple of years, will be a very wealthy man, well, even wealthier. And good for him. He has for 30 years been creating cutting-edge designs that have gotten critical acclaim and a respectable amount of sales success. Textron is purchasing his genius.

Where will Textron go with this? Straight up is my guess. In addition to its Velis Electro trainer, Pipistrel has been working on air mobility eVTOL designs, which look promising. Textron immediately joins that game.

If you’re thinking of traditional GA and emerging eVTOL segments as being siloed away from each other, think again. Aviation has a 119-year history of cross-pollination. The Wright Brothers were, after all, bicycle makers who saw a new opportunity and jumped at the chance to spread their wings.

Isabel Goyer, IMG_9452-113x150.jpeg
Mme. Isabel Goyer
Isabel Goyer, IMG_9452-113x150.jpeg (4.99 Kio) Vu 1680 fois


Isabel Goyer

Editor-in-Chief Isabel Goyer is an award-winning aviation journalist and editor who has been flying since she was a kid. With hundreds of different models of aircraft in her logbook and thousands of hours, she writes about flying from real-world experience. She has been working in aviation journalism for more than 25 years and led teams at several titles, including Sport Pilot and Flying, before coming to Plane & Pilot in 2015.
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Re: TEXTRON veut acheté PIPISTREL!

Messagepar VMF-214 » Jeu 17 Mar, 2022 17:25

Cessna/Beechcraft Parent Buys Electric Plane Maker Pipistrel.

The deal leads to a whole new kind of American airplane company.

By Plane & Pilot UPDATED MARCH 17, 2022

Textron, the parent company to Cessna Aircraft, Beechcraft and Bell Helicopter, has purchased electric and LSA pioneer Pipistrel, a small-aircraft manufacturer based in Slovenia. But according to its release, Pipistrel won’t be added as a fourth aircraft brand but, rather, it will be the anchor for a new business center, which it plans to call Textron eAviation. In its release, Textron wrote that under Textron ownership, “Pipistrel will have access to greater resources, technical and regulatory expertise and a global aircraft sales and support network, enabling it to accelerate its development and certification of electric and hybrid electric aircraft.”

In announcing the deal, Textron Chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly said, “Pipistrel puts Textron in a uniquely strong position to develop technologies for the sustainable aviation market and develop a variety of new aircraft to meet a wide range of customer missions.” He added, “today’s announcement supports Textron’s long-term strategy to offer a family of sustainable aircraft for urban air mobility, general aviation, cargo and special mission roles.”

The deal, said Textron, doesn’t mean that Pipistrel will go away. Far from it. “Pipistrel,” said Donnelly, “has been celebrated as one of the world’s most important and successful manufacturers of electric aircraft,” to which he added, “Textron is committed to maintaining Pipistrel’s brand, headquarters, research and development, and manufacturing in Slovenia and Italy, while making additional investments in Pipistrel for the development and production of future products.”

It also announced that Pipistrel founder and CEO Ivo Boscarol would “remain a minority shareholder as well as Chairman Emeritus, consulting on future product plans and strategies for a two-year period.” Boscarol said, “Under my 30-year leadership, Pipistrel’s team has achieved a unique prime position in personal, affordable, environmentally friendly and electric aviation. The trend and foundation for future projects has clearly been set,” said Boscarol. “To drive Pipistrel’s ambitious goals and to continue its story of success, the joining of Textron and Pipistrel provides deep expertise and resources which would otherwise be inaccessible to Pipistrel alone.”

The transaction, Textron wrote, is expected to close during the second quarter of 2022.
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