The story appears on

Page A11

July 6, 2018

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Business

Boeing to control 80% of JV with Embraer

Boeing Co will buy a controlling stake in the commercial aircraft arm of Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA under a new US$4.75-billion joint venture, the companies said yesterday, cementing a global passenger jet duopoly.

The new company, encompassing Embraer’s commercial aircraft and services businesses, should make Boeing the market leader for smaller passenger jets, creating stiffer competition for the CSeries aircraft program designed by Canada’s Bombardier Inc and backed by European rival Airbus SE.

The deal values Embraer’s commercial aircraft operations, the world’s third-largest, at US$4.75 billion and Boeing’s 80-percent ownership stake in the joint venture at US$3.8 billion, the firms said.

Boeing is expected to pay for its share of the venture in cash, according to a person familiar with the matter. The statement gave no indication of any payment Boeing was making under the deal.

Embraer will hold the remaining 20 percent of the venture and keep control of its defense and business jet operations. Concern over US influence in Brazilian military programs had raised red flags in Brasilia, which can still veto the deal.

However, recent signals from Brazil’s President Michel Temer and military officials suggested the government is satisfied with the new structure of the tie-up, as long as Brazilian jobs are maintained and Embraer continues to develop new technology.

With timely approval from the government, regulators and shareholders, Boeing and Embraer said they expect to close the deal by the end of next year.

The partnership is expected to add to Boeing’s earnings per share from 2020, generating annual pre-tax cost savings of about US$150 million by the third year, the companies said.

The deal took shape more than two years after the idea was first presented internally to Boeing’s board and reflects a longstanding affinity between the two planemakers, a person familiar with the discussions said.

However, the pressure for a tie-up accelerated when Airbus last year said it would take control of the CSeries jet from rival Bombardier, which had been struggling in its long-running battle with Embraer in the 70- to 130-seat segment of the market.

For Embraer, the Canadian deal put marketing force behind a fragile competitor, while for Boeing the tie-up threatened to expand the revenue base and cash-generating potential of its European arch-rival.




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend