“Roel [Pieper] reluctantly took over as CEO of Eclipse in July of 2008,” according to a press release that now announces him as a partner with Mike Press, Mason Holland, Raul Segredo and John Cracken in Eclipse Jet LLC (a.k.a. New Eclipse) — a company that seeks to acquire and operate the assets of Eclipse Aviation. Pieper, who succeeded Vern Raburn as Eclipse’s CEO, found himself unable to fund his plan to turn the financially failing Eclipse Aviation around as the economy collapsed. But, says Holland, he has engaged himself with Eclipse Jet in a way that “proved very useful.” Specifically, Holland says Pieper, who will act as Director of Eclipse Jet, has guided cost reduction and market expansion for the Eclipse 500. The team hopes to combine Pieper’s experience with Segredo’s, whose company, Avionica, was founded in 1992 and now stands to equip Boeing’s first 787 as a provider of satellite-communications gear. Cracken is managing director of a Dallas-based private-equity firm that specializes in “the acquisition of middle-market companies.” Mike Press is an Eclipse owner and Mason Holland is a 60-percent deposit holder. Press and Holland have been working to form a group that might, according to Holland, “restore the vision of Eclipse and honor the company’s commitments to owners and depositors.” Eclipse Jet LLC set specific objectives earlier this month.
Eclipse Jet on March 13 announced core objectives to “deliver a compelling value to Eclipse 500 owners and depositors; restore their faith in the Eclipse 500 and keep them in the family; deliver a compelling value to the new Eclipse Jet shareholders; and rebuild a global strategy that enables the full potential of the Eclipse 500 to be achieved.”
