Bombardier sells Belfast plant as part of $1bn deal

Along with Short Brothers in Belfast, Spirit AeroSystems is also taking ownership of Bombardier’s operations in Casablanca, Morocco and a maintenance facility in Dallas, USA for $500m.

The Wichita, Kansas headquartered company said it would assume approximately $300m in pension liabilities, and approximately $290m of government grant repayments.

At closing, Spirit AeroSystems will pay $500m to Bombardier and will make a cash contribution of approximately $130m towards the pension liability, for total cash at closing of $630m.

"The Bombardier operations bring world-class engineering expertise to Spirit and add to a strong track record of innovation, especially in advanced composites," said Tom Gentile, Spirit AeroSystems president and CEO. "Belfast has developed an impressive position in business jet fuselage production, in addition to the world-acclaimed fully integrated A220 composite wing. This acquisition is in line with our growth strategy of increasing Airbus content, developing low-cost country footprint, and growing our aftermarket business."

The acquired operations employ over 4,000 people across the three sites, the majority of which are in Belfast. The backlog of work includes long-term contracts on the Airbus A220 and A320neo, along with Bombardier business and regional jets.