British aircraft manufacturer Britten-Norman has been bought out of administration by a company named Shelton Bidco Ltd, resulting in a working capital injection into the business and support to ramp up production of its iconic Islander aircraft.
The five companies connected to Britten-Norman – B-N Group Ltd, Britten-Norman Ltd, Britten Norman Aircraft Ltd, BN Defence Ltd and BN Daedalus Ltd – were all placed into administration on 21 March 2024.
The administrators, Interpath Advisory, then sold 100% of Britten-Norman Aerospace Limited to Shelton Bidco Ltd, established by a group of financial investors led by 4D Capital Partners. Immediately after, the business and assets of the five companies in administration were acquired by Britten-Norman Aerospace Ltd for an undisclosed sale price.
Shelton Bidco Ltd has also acquired the share capital of the firm’s US entities – BN Aircraft Sales Inc and Britten-Norman Inc.
The takeover has secured 117 jobs not only at its manufacturing base at Bembridge airport on the Isle of Wight, but across Britten-Norman’s operations including at its head office, its sales office in
London, its engineering site in Southampton and at Lee-on-Solent. Britten-Norman chief executive, William Hynett OBE, commented: “The board has been in an extended process to secure the right investment that would allow Britten-Norman to deliver its plans to scale up output to meet demand.
“Britten-Norman is a brand with a rich and entrepreneurial aviation heritage which takes great responsibility in playing a vitally important role in supporting its world-wide customer base.
These customers are the bedrock of their societies, often providing critical infrastructure or life-critical services such as maritime search and rescue and medical evacuation.
“Following a great deal of interest in the business, we are pleased to have identified a new investor that shares our vision and strategy.”
Richard Silk, founder of 4D, added: “From the outset we saw the latent value in Britten-Norman, which has been underperforming since the pandemic. In addition to bringing working capital, our team will work closely with management to help the company ramp up production to meet the exciting demand for its sought after Islander aircraft.”
The move came after Britten-Norman agreed to train Gulf Med pilots as part of a recent aircraft deal.
Image accredited to Britten-Norman G-BEXJ-photo credit John-Le-Ray
