02 Jan 14. Airbus Group takes off into 2014 with joint brand
. EADS rebranded as Airbus Group
. Divisions named Airbus, Airbus Defence and Space, and Airbus Helicopters
. Airbus Group targets conversion of legal form into European Company SE by 2015
Taking off into the New Year, the EADS group has been rebranded as “Airbus Group”. Uniting all its activities under a single and strong brand, Airbus Group also renames two of its three Divisions. Going forward, the Group is home to:
. Airbus, focussing on commercial aircraft activities;
. Airbus Defence and Space, integrating the Group’s defence and space activities from Cassidian, Astrium, and Airbus Military;
. Airbus Helicopters, comprising all commercial and military helicopter activities.
“For many years, Airbus has been a globally renowned synonym for technology breakthrough as well as aeronautic passion and pride,” said Airbus Group CEO Tom Enders. “Joining forces under the strong Airbus brand gives all our operations and employees the thrust and lift to capture global markets.”
Furthermore, the Group is launching procedures to change the legal form of its holding by 2015: Once renamed, Airbus Group N.V. shall turn into a European Company, Airbus Group SE (Societas Europaea) which will continue to be registered in the Netherlands. “We are a pioneer for European industrial integration. It is a logical step and high time that our multinational culture is also mirrored in our legal structure,” said Enders. This legal conversion has no impact on the organization or operations of the Group. Both the legal name change into Airbus Group N.V. and the conversion of the legal form into SE are subject to approval of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Shareholders: while adoption of the new name is expected at the AGM in May 2014, the legal conversion is targeted for approval in May 2015. These steps complement the transformation process of the Group. In less than two years, the company has not only modernised its governance, broadened the shareholding structure, and united the Headquarters but also thoroughly overhauled its company strategy and launched the integration of the defence and space businesses.
26 Dec 13. Textron Inc (NYSE: TXT) has reached agreement to purchase all outstanding equity interests in Beech Holdings, LLC, the parent of Beechcraft Corporation, for approximately $1.4bn in cash. “The acquisition of Beechcraft is a tremendous opportunity to extend our general aviation business” Beechcraft Corporation, with estimated 2013 revenues of $1.8bn, is a leading manufacturer of business, special mission, light attack and trainer aircraft. With more than 36,000 aircraft in service, Beechcraft supports its installed base of Hawker business jets, King Air turboprops and Beechcraft airplanes with an extensive global network of company-owned and authorized service centers. (Source: Yahoo!/BUSINESS WIRE)
31 Dec 13. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that, in contrast to previous years in which successfully Israeli startups had focused on mergers and acquisitions, 2014 is shaping up to be a year in which similar companies attempt to go public. 2013 saw more Israeli startups acquired by foreign companies than any other year since 2006, with The Tower assessing in October that “announcements of multi-million and even billion-dollar acquisitions of Israeli startups [had become]… routine.” The news site specifically referenced Google’s billion-dollar acquisition of maps application Waze and Facebook’s $100m acquisition of data compression technology Onavo. The Journal projected that 2014, in contrast, will see Israeli startups switch to an IPO strategy. The outlet quoted Nimrod Kozlovski, a partner at Jerusalem Venture Partners, describing how “more companies in Israel now are lining up, trying to go to Nasdaq.” The story also described a recent IPO by website development platform Wix.com, which last month debuted in the U.S. and raised abou