BE Avionics to Purchase 2 Companies
Hoping to capture a bigger piece of the skies, BE Avionics Inc. has agreed to pay $74 million to buy two companies that make seat and galley equipment for commercial aircraft.
The Santa Ana company, which supplies airline seat entertainment systems, said Thursday that it will acquire PTC Aerospace in Bantam, Conn., and Aircraft Products Co. in Delray, Fla., both subsidiaries of the Pullman Co. in Livingston, N.J. BE Avionics Chairman Amin J. Khoury said in a statement that the acquisitions would make his company the leading supplier of cabin equipment and entertainment systems for commercial airliners.
Khoury said the company would finance the acquisition in part with cash and by issuing new debt. The companies to be acquired reported combined sales of $102 million last year and have a backlog of orders valued at $140 million, Khoury said. If the deal is completed, BE Avionics would employ a total of 140 people, Khoury said.
PTC makes seat equipment and APC makes equipment for airline galleys.
BE Avionics builds entertainment systems for airliners, including audio systems and video screens for passenger seats. The company won a $15-million contract in December to supply video systems for passenger seats on 78 British Airways jets.
BE Avionics’ control units allow a passenger to control audio and video entertainment systems, operate overhead lights and alert flight attendants. The units have been installed by 150 airlines.
The Santa Ana firm was founded in July, 1987, when an investor group led by Khoury acquired the assets of Bach Engineering Inc. In August, 1989, the company acquired the assets of EECO Avionics in Santa Ana, a maker of airline entertainment systems, for $13.9 million. The company raised $30 million in a public stock offering in April, 1990.
For its first quarter ended Oct. 27, BE Avionics earned $893,000, or 12 cents a share, compared to $940,000, or 13 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales fell 16%, to $5.1 million from $6.1 million a year earlier.
