Bombardier has agreed to sell its historic wing-making factory in Belfast to the US aerospace manufacturer Spirit Aerosystems as part of a $1.1bn (£850m) deal that ends months of uncertainty over the jobs of 3,500 highly skilled workers.
The Canadian aerospace company put the historic Short Brothers plant up for sale in May after a difficult period for the factory, where wings are made for Airbus’s A220 aircraft and which supplies parts for Airbus’s A320neo and Bombardier business and regional jets.
Spirit, which is based in Wichita, Kansas, will pay Bombardier $500m in cash, and will take on $300m in pension liabilities and $290m in government grant repayment obligations.
A spokeswoman for Bombardier said there were no workforce adjustments included in the deal. About 4,000 employees will transfer to Spirit, including those at smaller operations in the US and Morocco which are also part of the deal. Spirit said it expected to make $60m from cutting costs and other cooperation benefits.
Short Brothers, which traces its history back to 1908, is a key provider of well-paid jobs in Belfast and nearby towns, but its recent struggles resulted in several rounds of redundancies, including 500 jobs in November 2018.
The company, which also makes other plane parts, reported a loss of $33.8m in 2017 but recovered to make an operating profit of $4.9m in 2018.
Bombardier submitted documents in September showing plans to expand its main Belfast factory, according to the Belfast Telegraph.
Spirit said it expected Short Brothers to make adjusted earnings of $100m and revenues of $1bn in 2019.
Spirit, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of aerospace structures, was spun out of Boeing in 2005 and is trying to reduce its reliance on business from the company. Airbus built 135 A220s last year, and has a backlog of 480 orders.
Airbus bosses had considered buying the factory to secure the supply of wings, after taking on the main A220 operation from Bombardier, which is headquartered in Canada, in 2017. Airbus took on the jet, which has between 100 and 150 seats and was previously known as the C-Series, to cater for increased demand for smaller single-aisle planes.
The uncertainty over the future of the Short Brothers plant had come at a difficult time for the Northern Irish manufacturing sector, which is struggling with the threat to exports posed by potential Brexit disruption.
The Unite and GMB unions said they were seeking details of Spirit’s plans for the future of the workforce. However, Steve Turner, Unite’s assistant general secretary, said he welcomed a deal that meant the company would be run by an experienced aerospace company rather than a “short-termist hedge fund”. GKN, another venerable British aerospace company, was controversially bought by Melrose, a turnaround company that plans to sell the firm within a few years.
“It is a sale that offers hope for a positive future for Bombardier workers in Northern Ireland and their colleagues in the supply chain,” Turner said.
Michael Ryan, the chief operating officer of Bombardier’s Northern Irish operations, welcomed the purchase, adding that Spirit had recognised a “unique offering and growth potential”.
Spirit’s chief executive, Tom Gentile, said: “Belfast has developed an impressive position in business jet fuselage production, in addition to the world-acclaimed fully integrated A220 composite wing. This acquisition is in line with our growth strategy of increasing Airbus content, developing low-cost country footprint, and growing our aftermarket business.”
