Even as Adam Aircraft begins its streamlining and search for long-term financing, Eclipse Aviation, which went through a layoffs last year which included 10 percent of its workforce because of production delays, has secured long-term financing by expanding its partnership with European Technology and Investment Research Center (ETIRC) Aviation. Related Story
ETIRC not only expands its sales territory to Western Europe and the UK, which brings it to more than 60 countries in all, it secures the right to produce the very light jet in Russia. Eclipse has been scrambling for funds, offering year-end deals to customers who pay up front amongst other things after supplier problems forced production delays.
The agreement is the second off-shore production announcement in the very light jet field. It follows a similar investment in Epic Aircraft of $120 by Kingfisher Airlines owner Dr. Vijay Mallya who wants to manufacture that very light jet in India and market the Asian-produced aircraft to the Middle East and Asia.
The agreement between the Eclipse and Amsterdam-based ETIRC includes an equity investment by ETIRC in Eclipse that is “substantially in excess of $100 million.” The agreement also provides for significant additional financial benefits to Eclipse as agreed commercial objectives are realized. Upon completion of the equity investment ETIRC will be the single largest shareholder of Eclipse Aviation. ETIRC CEO Roel Pieper has been elected non-executive chair of the company.
ETIRC is currently the exclusive provider of sales, customer service, maintenance support and flight training for the Eclipse 500 in the countries of Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Republic of Turkey.
As part of its expanded partnership with Eclipse, ETIRC has the right to establish local assembly of the Eclipse 500 within its expanded region, helping Eclipse Aviation reach its global volume production goals. ETIRC is in advanced stages of discussions for the location of the assembly facility with the City of Ulyanovsk in Russia as the leading candidate at the moment. Production would be scheduled to begin late next year. The new production, said Eclipse President Vern Raburn will address the higher-than-expected demand outside the U.S. and will complement the New Mexico production, where the company expects to hire 700 new workers this year.
"Entrusting the expanded region of Europe to ETIRC in this manner represents a significant acceleration of our business plan," said Vern Raburn, Eclipse Aviation president and CEO. "Expanding our relationship with ETIRC will rapidly increase the impact of the Eclipse 500 in this region and position us to meet the needs of our growing number of customers outside of North America."
"The Eclipse 500 is by far the best value proposition for jet ownership anywhere in the world," said Roel Pieper, CEO of ETIRC. "We are pleased to expand our partnership with Eclipse Aviation to further support the volume growth of this intriguing and innovative aircraft. We believe that a close cooperation between our companies will make the Eclipse 500 the global standard for very light jets."
ETIRC Aviation S.a.r.l. is a principal driver of the VLJ industry, creating virtual jet networks for airlines and aviation entrepreneurs. It will provide business communities with affordable, on-demand, point-to-point jet travel that drives productivity. ETIRC Aviation will offer a full range of VLJ services to virtual jet network and jet taxi operators, including a real-time operations system, fleet financing, VLJ leasing, business consultancy, pilots, training programs and VLJ maintenance centers. ETIRC Aviation is headquartered in Luxembourg and has offices in Moscow, Istanbul and Cyprus. The company was founded by Roel Pieper, a former top-level executive at Tandem Computers, Compaq Computer, and Philips Electronics.