American defence company, L3Harris Technology, has announced that it has sold its Commercial Aviation Solutions (CAS) division, including its training academies in the UK, US and Thailand.
The deal, valued at up to $800m, will see private equity firm TJC L.P. takeover L3Harris’ CAS division, a move which is understood to be part of a broader strategy by L3 Harris to reduce debt following the acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne in July 2023 for $4.7bn.
L3Harris CAS’ UK bases are comprised of a head office and simulator training centre at Crawley, and a flight training academy at Cranfield Airport. These two bases grew out of the acquisition of former UK pilot training academy CTC Aviation which L3Harris purchased in 2015 for a reported $220m. The academy offers a range of integrated and modular pilot training programmes and is one of the largest in the UK.
The other pilot training academies under the L3Harris CAS umbrella are based in Florida, USA, and Bangkok, Thailand.
The sale is expected to close in the first half of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
Commenting on the sale, L3Harris Chair & CEO Christopher E. Kubasik said: “Today’s announcement is consistent with our multi-year strategy to optimise our national security, technology-focused portfolio. Aligned with our capital allocation priorities, we plan to use the proceeds from this transaction to repay debt, which will accelerate our timeline to reach our debt leverage objective.”
L3Harris’ CAS division employs approximately 1,450 people and alongside pilot training also offers flight data analytics, avionics, and advanced air mobility products and services, among other capabilities.
More information on this major development in the UK flight training industry will be published in the December issue of Flight Training News.