Airbus Agrees to Buy Bombardier A220 Stake for $591 Million

   By Benjamin Katz 
 

Airbus SE has agreed to buy Bombardier Inc.'s remaining stake in the A220 jet program, ending the Canadian manufacturer's involvement.

Bombardier will receive $591 million net of adjustments, with Airbus increasing its stake in the A220 program to 75%. The government of Quebec will own 25% of the program after the transaction, Airbus said in a statement Thursday.

The deal ends Bombardier's involvement in the aircraft it created, formerly known as the CSeries, after delays and cost overruns forced it to initially hand over a majority stake to Airbus in 2017. Airbus has since boosted sales of the jet by 64% to 658 aircraft at the end of January.

The deal releases Bombardier from its funding commitment that required the company to cover up to $350 million in annual losses over a set period as part of the initial stake sale.

Bombardier said last month that it would review its holding in the joint program, after new financial projections for the A220 pushed out expectations for when the aircraft would become profitable.

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that Boeing Co. 737 MAX customer, Green Africa Airways, is in talks to buy as many as 100 of the aircraft.

Write to Benjamin Katz at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 13, 2020 00:40 ET (05:40 GMT)

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