Leonardo Helicopters last week acquired 100% of Swiss helicopter manufacturer Kopter Group AG in a move designed to strengthen Leonardo's position in the market.
In doing so, Leonardo will add the single-engine SH09 helicopter to its range, simultaneously canceling its own plans to develop clean-sheet single-engine design.
“By this deal we confirm our commitment to strengthening Leonardo’s core business and sustaining our leadership in key areas," said Leonardo CEO Alessandro Profumo.
"With this acquisition we will bring on board innovative skills and technologies that will complement our own and will also contribute to keeping us at the forefront of innovation and competitiveness whilst maintaining our financial solidity.”
Kopter Group was founded in 2009 as Marenco SwissHelicopter and later rebranded as Kopter Group AG in 2018. The brand-new SH09 single engine helicopter programme was launched with the intent to bring new capabilities and modern design to the civil market on a cost-effective and versatile platform.
“Kopter is very excited to have won with Leonardo a solid industrial investor," Kopter’s CEO Andreas Loewenstein said. "Within Leonardo, we get the support to finalize our development on various fronts while keeping the ability to remain the agile single-engine pioneer that we are.”
The deal, set to be finalised in the first quarter of this year, is worth 185 million Euro plus.
Kopter Group was formerly owned by Swiss firm Lynwood (Schweiz) AG.