As receivers of bankrupt regional jet manufacturer Fairchild Dornier awaited a takeover bid from a partnership led by Russian conglomerate Basic Element last month, another group of investors that hopes to prove more palatable to aircraft program stakeholders and the German government suddenly surfaced. Swiss-registered Aviation Finance Consulting (AFC) wants to inject E200 million ($195 million) in capital into the company and maintain operations in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, with E800 million ($780 million) in loans backed by the Bavarian and German federal governments. AFC has proposed installing former Augsburg Airways boss Olaf Dlugi as CEO and former Dornier chief executive Heider Heydrich as COO.
The AFC overture stood as the first expression of interest in Fairchild Dornier’s 728 program by a Western investor since the German company began negotiations with Basic Element more than three months ago. Meanwhile, negotiations between the Russian investors and Fairchild Dornier have progressed to “the highest political levels,” placing the Swiss latecomer at a disadvantage in terms of timing. Still, the inherent political and logistical impediments of doing business with a Russian enterprise remain an issue of contention, a fact that could potentially bode well for AFC.
