AAI Acquisition is the new owner of Adam Aircraft after a deal was struck with bankruptcy trustees last week. However, the bargain-basement buyout of the company, which spent hundreds of millions of dollars developing the A500 piston twin and A700 very light jet was protested by one of the creditors, according to the Denver Post. Portfolio Real Estate, of Englewood, Colo., called the lone bidder a “thinly capitalized Delaware corporation” formed for no other reason than to buy Adam. It also claims the would-be buyer is affiliated with the Russian private equity firm Industrial Investors. The deal still has to be approved by the court. The trustee, Jeffery Weinmann, is looking on the bright side, however.
Weinmann noted that rather than being cut up and sold off asset by asset, the company went as a single entity and part of the deal is some relief for creditors. “This is good for the city; it’s good for Colorado; it’s good for the bankruptcy estate to sell it in whole rather than piecemeal,” Weinman said. The plant may be in operation this week.
