Chinese Acquistion of Cirrus

[KellyZ]

I see the the Chinese are buying Cirrus. How about that?

[zdc]

They produce, we spend. I expect to see a lot more Chinese aquisitions of American based properties.

[zaitcev]

Cirrus is nothing. When mainland Chinese bought personal computer business from IBM, it was a big deal. Cirrus rides a revenue of just shy of 100 million a year, Lenovo is a 16,000 million a year business. Cirrus really is nothing for Chinese in the big scheme of things, it's just some investment fund moving the pocket change around.

[ArionAv8or]

They produce, we spend. I expect to see a lot more Chinese aquisitions of American based properties.

Unfortunately I believe you are correct. It's sad but true and our economic condition doesn't seem to be improving much. If things keep up like this we may need to learn to speak Chinese.

[deltafox]

"Investment in all types of business has really taken a big hit after the financial crash of late 2008, but money for general aviation projects is really hard to come by. And there is no mystery there. Just look at the reported $1 billion that was vaporized in the Eclipse collapse. Or the hundreds of millions that were lost in the Adam Aircraft attempt. Is it any wonder that investors are gun-shy when asked to put money into a GA company?"

http://macsblog.com/2011/02/cirrus-find ... investors/

[tu16]

Too late - this ship has sailed into deep space of unregulated global finance long time ago...

I hope everybody also knows that Piper Aircraft is owned since 2009 by Singapore-based investment company Imprimus , funded by Government of Brunei and is being managed since July 2010 by Geoffrey Berger, managing director of Imprimus in Brunei, after CEO Kein Gould resigned.

So, please, say thank you for helping to keep GA alive here to Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, General Dr Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah whose state's official philosophy MIB (Melayu Islam Beraja) represents a "blend of Malay language, culture and Malay customs, the teaching of Islamic laws and values and the monarchy system which must be esteemed and practiced by all" Amen.

[Jack Tyler]

Here's another interesting data point re: the emergence of China as a world presence. A Brazilian friend was recently flown from here in Brisbane (all expenses paid) to 4 Chinese cities to meet with management reps of several Chinese airlines. Jose is a 25 yr ATP commercial airline captain (mostly with Brazilia until it went belly up) and he's being recruited heavily to take a 3-yr contract to fly for one of the regional airlines there. Why? China has 3,000 commercial multi-engine jet a/c on order over the next several years, and not nearly enough qualified ATP-level, experienced captains. Most of the positions being filled are not for transnational, transocean flights but rather for in/out regional flights, which indicates the degree to which China is forward-planning on the expansion and opening up of their huge country.

Jose said he's flown all over the world and those 4 airports he landed at were, by far, the biggest he'd ever seen and the most modern. 3,000 *additional* multi-engine jet a/c is a massive number, especially when one reflects on the spares, the increase in maintenance and repair facilities needed, the mechanics and flight crews needed, and so forth.

[saintlfd]

China has 3,000 commercial multi-engine jet a/c on order over the next several years, and not nearly enough qualified ATP-level, experienced captains. Most of the positions being filled are not for transnational, transocean flights but rather for in/out regional flights, which indicates the degree to which China is forward-planning on the expansion and opening up of their huge country.

There is a sizeable contingent of Asian student pilots continuously running through the flight school at KDTO (Denton, TX). I'm sure this is not the only such program in the USA. While this ongoing effort by the Chinese will not give them instantly experienced pilots, it will give them a start toward filling their future needs.
D

[tu16]

Those interested in opinions on Bahrain governement owned Cirrus becoming Chinese goverment-owned Cirrus may find this blog article and discussion somewhat interesting: http://www.avweb.com/blogs/insider/Chin ... 200-1.html

[...]Chinese participation in the aviation industry isn't necessarily a bad thing and the folks in Duluth and Grand Forks could have suffered a worse fate. In the absence of a sale, bankruptcy was a real possibility for Cirrus and it might have been hard for a trustee to justify operating the business with the numbers it was showing. As for where it leaves current Cirrus owners and those thinking of buying one, the sale is probably a positive thing. As seems to be the norm with airplane factory sales, the new owners will likely put some money into the company, maybe finish the jet, maybe develop some new models. Product support for the existing and future fleet seems likely.

This doesn't signal the beginning of the end of the U.S. general aviation industry by any stretch. General aviation is forecast to grow in importance and activity. But the actual physical construction of airframes may happen anywhere in the world, using technology and innovation developed in the good old U.S.A. and seeding development in countries that are looking for productive futures for their people.The sale of these companies to other countries isn't the end of the world. For some places, maybe it's just the beginning.

:) To paraphrase - basically, no worries, mates - Chinese Government will ultimately buy us all out and will see to it that we have decent jobs here to continue to buy chinese production. Thanks, of course, to the wise government in Washington, DC that sees to it that americans be employed with benefits by foreign communist and islamic governments and to see these governements to go broke too after completing american acquisitions :) There're some long-term strategic benefits after all in our outsourced governing :)

Sorry, just kidding. :) Hard to resist... Cannot agree though - it's not just the beginning. This is going on for a long time :)

[tu16]

http://www.brifo.com/documents/FoleyOrg ... -Offer.pdf

Somebody tries to find US investors to buy Cirrus... Good luck! Maybe AOPA should buy it?