Aviation Technology Group’s board is continuing to pursue negotiations with its strategic partner and various financial institutions, according to a recent announcement from the sports aircraft company. The company suspended development of its fighter-jet-like personal jet, the Javelin, powered by Williams FJ33-4A-18M engines in December. The discussions for resuming development of aircraft that looks like a cross between the F/A 18 Hornet and the F-5 Freedom Fighter, include developing alternatives to continue operations in the short-term as well as long-term options.
Much of the focus over the last several weeks has been in renegotiating both credit and teaming agreements, said the company, which has a deal in place for 40 aircraft with Action Aviation, its Middle East sales agent. Current efforts of the board are now focused on negotiations with interested parties pursuing a possible sale or a majority buyout of ATG, which developed the aircraft in collaboration with Israeli Aircraft Industries. Certification for the two-seat Javelin had been set for 2009 after the prototype’s first flight in 2005.
The company reported that multiple teams are pursuing a list of potential buyers. Though subject to change, the general plan is to ask for best and final offer bids from prospective buyers to reach ATG within the next few weeks. At that point the board will review all bids and negotiate with interested parties.
ATG, with help from a Wall Street banking institution, has been seeking funding to continue its Javelin high-performance, business-jet and military trainer for the past 12 months. Because it was unable to find the funding, it halted development of the Javelin. The suspension of the program followed the loss of Safire Aviation’s VLJ program in 2004. It was followed by Adam Aircraft’s filing for Chapter 7 recently. Related Story