Aircraft
Analyst: Learjet Sale ‘Increasingly Plausible’
Textron Aviation could be an “interested potential buyer for cost synergies and potential to upgrade Lear service customers to its bizjets," says analyst.
A new investment analyst report from Cowen and Company said it is "increasingly plausible" that Bombardier would divest Wichita-based Learjet to alleviate the parent company's debt load. The light jet market is also currently challenging, it noted. (Photo: Matt Thurber/AIN)
A new investment analyst report from Cowen and Company said it is "increasingly plausible" that Bombardier would divest Wichita-based Learjet to alleviate the parent company's debt load. The light jet market is also currently challenging, it noted. (Photo: Matt Thurber/AIN)

A divestiture of Wichita-based Learjet from Bombardier’s aerospace portfolio is “increasingly plausible to lighten the overhang of $6.7 billion in debt” that matures starting in 2018, according to an investor analyst report published this week by Cowen and Company. During its second-quarter financial call last Friday, Bombardier chairman and CEO Alain Bellemare said the company is “addressing Learjet’s position due to significant pricing pressures.”