Weeks after acquiring the near totality of the shareholding of SABCA, Group Dassault is divesting the Brussels-based OEM that employs some 1,000 staff across three sites in Belgium and one facility in Casablanca, Morocco. In a statement released Wednesday evening, SABCA CEO Thibauld Jongen vowed the company will “continue to be involved in several major Dassault programs, including the Falcon 6X business jet.”

SABCA offers a full range of services to the civil, space, and military aviation markets and recently expanded into the commercial drones market as a platform designer and manufacturer. It supplies parts for the Airbus A320, A350, A330, and A380, and is active on almost all Falcon business aircraft models. The company also manufactures the composite horizontal stabilizer structure, supplied to Fokker Aerostructures for integration and delivery to Gulfstream, for the G650.

Dassault Belgique Aviation, a fully owned subsidiary of France’s Dassault Group, is SABCA’s majority shareholder and in March bought the 43.57 percent stake from Fokker Aerospace for €7.5 million—valuing the company at €17 million. The move prompted speculation that Dassault had purchased the near totality of SABCA to then spin off the asset and reduce its presence in Belgium as a result of the Belgian government’s decision last year to choose Lockheed Martin F-35 fighters to replace the country’s aging F-16, rather than Dassault Rafales. According to Jongen, Dassault’s decision to sell SABCA “is part of a more global strategy, specific to the group, which also acknowledges the fact that we have made significant progress in recent years to make SABCA robust, profitable and competitive again.” SABCA recorded a profit of €5.2 million last year, up from €2.6 million in 2017.

Dassault has enlisted investment bank Rothschild & Co to conduct the sale. “Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault has shared its intention to pay close attention to the choice of a buyer likely to guarantee SABCA's industrial future under the best conditions,” SABCA stated. “No impact is anticipated on current programs or on all other contracts and prospects.”