Dassault Finds Buyers for Belgian Aeronautics Firm SABCA

Dassault Group has reached a deal to sell its 97 percent shareholding in SABCA to a new joint venture between Belgium’s sovereign wealth fund SFPI/FPIM and independent Belgian MRO provider Sabena Aerospace. In a statement released Friday, SABCA chairman and CEO Thibauld Jongen said the proposed acquisition offers a “very exciting perspective” for the future of the Brussels-based OEM that employs some 1,000 staff across three sites in Belgium and one facility in Casablanca, Morocco. The profile of the new shareholders, he asserted, “fits perfectly our needs for accelerating and intensifying the deployment of our strategic transformation plan initiated a few years ago. The new constellation creates a true aerospace leader in Belgium, with a strong position in civil aviation, defense, and space.”

SABCA’s civil aircraft unit designs and supplies parts for the Airbus A320, A330, A350, and A380 and is active on several Dassault business jet programs, including the Falcon 6X. The company also manufactures the composite horizontal stabilizer structure, supplied to Fokker Aerostructures for integration and delivery to Gulfstream, for the G650.

Dassault in April last year revealed it intended to divest SABCA, just weeks after acquiring the near totality of the shareholding of the Belgian Tier 1 aerospace supplier through the purchase of Fokker Aerospace’s 43.57 percent stake for €7.5 million ($8.2 million). The move prompted speculation that Dassault had purchased the near totality of SABCA to then spin off the asset and reduce its presence in Belgium as a result of the Belgian government’s decision in 2018 to choose Lockheed Martin F-35 fighters—rather than Dassault Rafales—to replace the country’s aging F-16s.

The purchase of Fokker’s stake for a mere €7.5 million valued SABCA last year at just €17 million. Dassault now is selling the company for €74.6 million. SABCA recorded a net profit of €5.2 million in 2018, up from €2.6 million in 2017, on revenue of €186 million.

“Belgium has been a pioneer in aerospace and aviation, and we are therefore very proud to acquire SABCA and anchor it in Belgium, thus safeguarding and further strengthening the local aerospace ecosystem and employment,” SFPI/FPIM CEO Koen Van Loo noted.

The transaction is subject to merger control approval. The parties said they expect to close the deal at the end of SABCA’s second quarter of 2020.