Berkshire's NetJets Agrees to Buy 120 Bombardier Planes Worth $6.7 Billion
By Neil Denslow - Mar 1, 2011 10:41 PM ET
NetJets Inc., the business-jet operator owned by
Warren Buffett’s
Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said it ordered as many as 120 aircraft from
Bombardier Inc. in a record deal for private planes.
The agreement, worth more than $6.7 billion at list prices, comprises 50 firm orders and 70 options, according to a statement carried today by Business Wire. It didn’t say how much NetJets would pay for the aircraft, which will arrive from the fourth quarter of 2012.
NetJets, based in Columbus, Ohio, placed the order in anticipation of a rebound in demand for corporate travel, it said.
David Sokol, named to run the jet operator by Buffett in 2009, has returned the unit to profit after firing pilots and writing down the value of planes.
“Although we anticipate 2011 to be another difficult year, when Bombardier begins to make deliveries of these aircraft, we will be ready to satisfy the market’s demand,” Sokol said in the statement. “We are taking advantage of the current lull in the private aviation market to position the NetJets fleet for the future.”
The firm orders include 30 of Montreal-based Bombardier’s Global 5000 Vision and Global Express XRS Vision aircraft, which will be delivered starting next year. The deal also includes 20 firm orders for Bombardier’s new Global 7000 and Global 8000 jets, which will be handed over starting in 2017.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...to-buy-up-to-120-new-bombardier-aircraft.html