GKN expects boost from Airbus plant deal

GKN, the UK engineering group, expects to complete the acquisition of a large part of the Airbus manufacturing site at Filton, near Bristol around the middle of the year, increasing its activities in the aerospace sector by more than a third.

It was selected by Airbus, the European commercial aircraft maker, in December to enter exclusive negotiations to take over the Filton wing structures operation defeating rival interest from Spirit AeroSystems of the US, a leading aerostructures supplier to Boeing.

GKN is expected to spend around €200m for the takeover, and the Filton site will become its biggest single aerospace manufacturing plant worldwide.

It will add between 1,600 and 1,800 jobs and a turnover of £300m to the existing GKN Aerospace global workforce of 8,500 and a turnover in 2007 of £820m.

Aerospace sales accounted last year for 21 per cent of total group turnover in 2007 of £3.87bn and were already growing rapidly from £695m in 2006, helped by contributions of £96m from other new acquisitions.

Airbus is selling off several components manufacturing plants in Germany, France and the UK as part of a restructuring of its industrial operations across Europe.

A key factor in the deal with GKN will be the award of significant design and manufacturing work packages for the wing of the Airbus A350, the new family of long range, medium capacity jets planned as a rival to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and due into commercial service in 2013.

GKN said on Thursday that the combination of Filton with its existing capability would enable the group to create “a globally competitive centre of excellence” for the design and manufacture of composite aircraft wing structures.

GKN, along with Latécoère and MT Aerospace which are expected to acquire other Airbus plants in France and Germany, will need to make significant investments in developing engineering and manufacturing capacity for producing components in composite materials rather than in metal as Airbus makes a big switch in technology with the A350 programme.

Source: Financial Times

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