B/E Aerospace to Sell Stake in Irvine Firm

B/E Aerospace Inc. said Monday it will sell a 51% stake in its Irvine-based In-Flight Entertainment business to a subsidiary of Sextant Avionique S.A. for up to $82 million in cash, depending on operating results over the next two years.

The new joint venture company, to be called Sextant In-Flight Systems, will be headquartered in Irvine. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of February.

Sextant is a French firm that supplies avionics systems for military and civil aircraft to manufacturers worldwide.

In-flight entertainment products manufactured at B/E’s 120,000-square-foot plant in Irvine include interactive video systems and individual passenger audio systems.

The sale is part of a corporate restructuring in which Florida-based B/E says it will get rid of seven of its manufacturing sites and cut about 500 jobs from its payroll. Company officials say sales have slumped in the wake of the Asian economic crisis and Boeing Co.’s reduction in wide-body jet production.