Hawker Beechcraft

Hawker Beechcraft Corporation is the name of a holding company formed by Onex Corporation and Goldman Sachs to acquire the aircraft manufacturing assets of Raytheon, primarily Beechcraft and Hawker. The partnership paid $3.3 billion in a transaction announced on December 21, 2006." [http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/12/21/raytheon_to_sell_jet_subsidiary/ Raytheon to sell jet subsidiary] ." Weisman, R. "The Boston Globe". December 21, 2006.]

The sale was finalized on Monday, 26 March 2007, and at that point Hawker Beechcraft Corporation was officially formed. The company headquarters is in Wichita, Kansas, with maintenance and manufacturing locations worldwide.

History

On February 8, 1980, Beech Aircraft Corporation becomes a subsidiary of Raytheon Company. In August 1993, Raytheon Company acquired Raytheon Corporate Jets (formerly British Aerospace Corporate Jets), producers of the midsized Hawker jet line, from British Aerospace. In mid-September 1994, Beech Aircraft Corporation ("Beechcraft") and Raytheon Corporate Jets merged to form Raytheon Aircraft.

Ending months of industry speculation; Raytheon announced in July 2006 that it intends to sell its money-losing aircraft manufacturing business in an effort to focus on core defense related divisions. The Raytheon name and logo were almost invisible at recent trade shows such as NBAA 2006 as the company attempted to re-brand itself behind the Beechcraft and Hawker names.

Bidders for the company included Carlyle Group, Cerberus Capital Management and Onex Corporation.

On December 21 2006, Raytheon reported that it had signed an agreement to sell Raytheon Aircraft to Hawker Beechcraft Inc., a company owned by GS Capital Partners, an affiliate of Goldman Sachs, and Onex. The sale will not include Flight Options or Raytheon Airline Aviation Services (RAAS). The transaction was completed on March 26 2007.

Facilities

* Chester, England
* Little Rock, Arkansas
* Salina, Kansas
* Wichita, Kansas (headquarters)

Products

Civil

* Hawker 400XP
* Hawker 850XP
* Hawker 1000
* Hawker 4000
* Bonanza G36
* Baron G58
* King Air C90GT
* King Air B200
* King Air 350
* 1900 Beechliner
* Premier IA

Military

* T-1 Jayhawk
* T-6 Texan II/CT-156 Harvard II
* T-34 Mentor
* C-6 Ute/U-21 Ute
* C-12 Huron

References

External links

* [http://www.hawkerbeechcraft.com/ Hawker Beechcraft Corporation web site]