Aircraft manufacturer Hawker Beechcraft has announced plans to come out of bankruptcy protection by the first quarter of 2013 as an independent company and restructure its business.
It said that talks with Chinese aerospace firm Superior Aviation Beijing to sell its business jet and general aviation operations for $1.8bn had failed, as the parties could not reach an agreement on the terms of a plan sponsorship agreement.
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The aircraft manufacturer began negotiations with the Chinese firm in July.
Hawker Beechcraft chief executive Robert Steve Miller said the company had decided to proceed with the standalone plan of reorganisation as the proposed transaction with Superior could not be completed on acceptable terms for the company.
"We are disappointed that the transaction did not come to fruition, but we protected ourselves by obtaining a $50m deposit from Superior that is now fully non-refundable and property of the company," Miller said.
Following its exit from bankruptcy, Hawker Beechcraft plans to rename itself as Beechcraft that will focus on turboprop, piston, special mission and trainer/attack aircraft, and high margin spare parts, maintenance, repairs and refurbishment businesses.
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By GlobalDataHowever, the company is discussing its product lines with key creditor constituents, which would lead to shutdown of the whole jet business.
Hawker Beechcraft filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, in early May as it witnessed a decline in demand for business jets amid the global financial crisis.
