Textron, Beechcraft Near Deal For $1.4 Bln: FT

(RTTNews) - Producer of Cessna planes Textron Inc. (TXT), is nearing the $1.4 bln deal to purchase aircraft manufacturer Beechcraft, Financial Times Friday said quoting unnamed sources.

In February, after the closure of Hawker business, Beechcraft emerged from bankruptcy protection, and in October it engaged Credit Suisse in a bid to seek potential buyers for its jet plane business which has been losing money, according to the report. The company intends to focus more on the less competitive propeller-powered aircraft market.

If the deal materializes, Beechcraft would further expand the range of aircraft it can offer customers for Textron, the report said. Cessna already has a wider range of aircraft than any other maker of general aviation aircraft and the deal with Beechcraft would further boost its offering at the smaller, propeller-powered end of its range.

Other companies that were interested in the purchase of Beechcraft included Brazil's Embraer and Indian group Mahindra & Mahindra. Financial Times said that Cessna believes the aircraft buyers tend to be loyal to a particular brand and will not move away from it it even if they slowly buy larger aircraft. Centerbridge Partners, Sankaty Advisors and Angelo Gordon own about 90 percent of Beechcraft.

All the parties related to the proposed transaction declined to comment.

Textron stock closed Friday at $37.29, up $4.72 or 14.49%, on a volume of about 2.36 million shares on the NYSE. In the after hours trading, the stock further gained $0.01 or 0.03% at $37.30.