Montreal’s CAE purchases training centres from AirAsia for US$100M
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
The Canadian aerospace firm will take control of three aviation training centres from AirAsia in Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam which train staff on Airbus and Boeing aircraft. The centres were previously jointly owned by the two companies
MONTREAL—Aerospace simulation technologies manufacturer CAE Inc. has purchased full control of three aviation training centres it owns jointly with Malaysia’s AirAsia Berhad for US$100 million.
The training centres—located in Sepang, Malaysia; Singapore; and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam—are the three hubs of the Asian Aviation Centre of Excellence (AACE), a joint venture between CAE and Air Asia that offers training for pilots, cabin crew, maintenance engineers, technicians and ground services personnel on the Airbus A320, A330 and Boeing B737NG platforms.
The transaction also gives CAE full control of AACE’s share of the Philippine Academy of Aviation Training, a joint-venture training centre between AACE and Cebu Pacific, located in Manila, Philippines.
“CAE and AirAsia have been close partners since 2004, and we created AACE together in 2011. This new agreement is a natural evolution of our relationship and a win-win for both organizations,” said Marc Parent, CAE president and CEO.
Parent continued, “It allows AirAsia to concentrate on its core business by completely outsourcing its training needs to CAE, and it allows CAE to expand its footprint in Asia Pacific, the fastest-growing aviation market.”
CAE says it will remain the exclusive training partner of AirAsia and its affiliates until 2036.
“AirAsia is rich in assets but our core business is passenger service and ancillary, and we will continue to regularly dispose of non-core investments and dividend most of it out, subject to board approval. This stake sale is just part of our long-term plan to monetize all our assets. We are also working on several other divestments of valuable assets including our leasing arm, which is imminent,” said Tony Fernandes, Group CEO of AirAsia.
The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
