Langley Will Meet With Fleet Over Bid for Control

Langley Corp. will meet this morning with executives from Fleet Aerospace Corp., the St. Catherine, Ontario-based company that apparently is on the verge of acquiring a majority ownership stake in the San Diego-based aircraft and missile components manufacturer.

Langley management was startled Friday to learn through a Securities & Exchange Commission report that Fleet, a publicly traded aerospace components manufacturer with headquarters near Toronto, had accumulated 21% of Langley’s outstanding common shares.

“We’ll have a meeting with (George Dragone, Fleet’s chief executive) on Tuesday and we’ll hopefully know more about them,” Langley Chairman M. G. Bildsoe said Monday.

Fleet recently acquired at least one other aerospace components manufacturer and “seems to be on an acquisition bent,” Bildsoe said.

Fleet acquired a good portion of its stake on Aug. 4 when a major stock fund sold its Langley shares on the open market.

The SEC report filed by Fleet indicated that it will allow existing shareholders to retain “substantial participating in the future activities of (Langley).”

However, Fleet also reported that it intends to influence the management of Langley’s business policies, and that its bid “may result in Fleet obtaining a majority ownership and/or control of the company.”

Langley reported a $297,000 net profit and $6 million in revenue for the first half of its fiscal year ended April 30.