Triumph Group To Purchase Vought Aircraft For $1.44 Billion

Triumph Group To Purchase Vought Aircraft For $1.44 Billion <

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Triumph Group To Purchase Vought Aircraft For $1.44 Billion By Bill Goldston

		March 24, 2010 - Triumph Group, Inc. announced earlier on Tuesday the signing of a definitive agreement to purchase Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. from The Carlyle Group for cash and stock consideration of $1.44 billion, including the retirement of Vought debt, creating a company with industry-leading breadth of product and capabilities. The purchase consideration to Vought shareholders includes approximately 7.5 million shares and $525 million of cash. Post-closing, Carlyle will own approximately 31 percent of the outstanding stock of Triumph. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals and approval of Triumph shareholders and is expected to be completed in July 2010. The acquired business will operate as Triumph Aerostructures – Vought Aircraft Division, LLC. ”Vought ended the year with increased sales and improved operating income. Our announced combination with Triumph is an exciting development for Vought,” said Vought President and Chief Executive Officer Elmer Doty.

“The resulting publicly traded company will possess the scale and resources to confidently address the opportunities and challenges of today’s aerospace market.” Vought is the name of several related aerospace firms. These have included, in the past, Lewis and Vought Corporation, Chance Vought, Vought Sikorsky, LTV Aerospace (part of Ling-Temco-Vought), Vought Aircraft Companies, and the current Vought Aircraft Industries. The first incarnation of Vought was established by Chance M. Vought and Birdseye Lewis in 1917. In 1928, it was acquired by United Aircraft Corporation, the first of many reorganizations and buyouts. Vought produced thousands of planes during World War II, including the F4U Corsair. Ling-Temco-Vought bought Vought in 1961, and while designing and producing a variety of planes and missiles throughout the Cold War, suffered numerous reorganizations. Vought was sold from LTV and owned in various degrees by the Carlyle Group and Northrop Grumman in the early 1990s. It was then fully bought by Carlyle, renamed Vought Aircraft Industries, and continues aerospace work today, with headquarters in Dallas, Texas.

Northrop Grumman, the successor to Northrop and Grumman, respectively, bought out the Carlyle Group's share of Vought for $130 million in 1994. The Carlyle Group then purchased the entire company from Northrop Grumman in 2000 and established Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc., the current incarnation.

It is now primarily an aerostructures subcontractor. Vought is heavily involved in the Boeing 747, Boeing 787 aircraft as well as supplying parts for the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II and the V-22 Osprey. In July 2003, the Aerostructures Corp., owned by the Carlyle Group and based in Nashville, Tennessee, merged with Vought. Vought's Nashville site supplies wing components for Airbus A319, A320, A330, and A340.

The Boeing Co. announced in July 2009 that it had agreed to acquire the North Charleston, South Carolina facility of Vought Aircraft Industries, where Vought builds sections 47 and 48 of the aft fuselage for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner. Boeing had agreed to pay $580 million for the facility.

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