H3 Aerospace acquires Grob Aircraft

H3 Aerospace GmbH & Co. KG (Munich) will acquire major parts of Grob Aerospace GmbH (Mindelheim) as of 1 February 2009 and continue operations under the new company name "Grob Aircraft AG". Grob Aerospace had filed for bankruptcy in autumn of last year.

Founded by private investors in 2006, H3 Aerospace is a company operating in the aviation industry with a turnover in the one-digit million euro range. Johann Heitzmann, CEO of H3Aerospace explains: "Our company's stated objective is to develop and manufacture utility aircraft, i.e. light transport and liaison planes. For this reason, Grob Aircraft is a perfect fit for our activities."

Grob Aerospace was a manufacturer of training aircraft with a long tradition and world marketleader in this field. According to Heitzmann, the Mindelheim-based company is expected to attain this status once again. H3 Aerospace will be taking over around 100 employees in an existing company structure. Heitzmann: "Our intention with Grob Aircraft is to promote aircraft building in our market segment and to develop new business in the area of production and engineering services."

Operations are now due to restart after the company has stood idle since insolvency almost six months ago. As preparation work must be carried out for this in several important areas such as materials procurement and production scheduling, an application must be made for shorttime working for a period of one to two months, primarily for the production area, i.e. some 50 employees. The remaining approximately 50 employees in the other areas will be starting work as early as the beginning of February.

"We intend investing between six and eight million euros in our new company over the next two years, mainly in order to develop new products in the field of aircraft construction,"emphasises Heitzmann. Grob Aircraft currently has three types of trainer aircraft; a fourth model has already successfully completed flight trials. This new series is also expected to contribute to the Mindelheim company's success in the future.

For Heitzmann, this acquisition is "an entrepreneurial step towards a common future that will benefit both H3 Aerospace and Grob Aircraft alike".