South Korea-based Hanwha Aerospace is increasing its global presence with a $300 million acquisition of engine component company EDAC Technologies. Assisted by investment banker Lazard Aerospace & Defense Group, the recently announced acquisition gives Hanwha a key U.S.-based supplier in the aircraft engine chain and furthers its stated goal of strengthening its global reach through investments of up to KRW4 trillion ($3.36 billion).
Headquartered in Cheshire, Connecticut, EDAC (Hall 3, B118) provides complex static and rotating aircraft engine components for customers including General Electric and Pratt & Whitney. The company employs 590 and reported revenues of $150 million in 2018.
The EDAC portfolio is of particular interest to Hanwha (Chalet 114), which anticipates the global market for aircraft engine components to grow at a 6 percent rate annually, reaching $54.2 billion by 2025.
“The aircraft engine manufacturing industry has extremely high barriers to entry and based on 40 years of accumulated advanced technology and quality, our position within the aircraft engine manufacturing market and as a global risk-sharing partner has risen significantly,” said Hanwha CEO Hyunwoo Shin. “The acquisition of EDAC will allow us to continuously expand our engine component business and take us closer to achieving our vision to become the number one global partner in aircraft engines.”
Hanwha Aerospace entered the aircraft engine business in 1979 with a gas turbine engine depot maintenance program and by last year had assembled more than 8,600 engines.
The acquisition was Lazard’s 61st aerospace and defense transaction since 2013 and the ninth involving aerospace machining and fabrication transaction since 2017. Lazard-represented transactions have totaled $91 billion since 2013, and in the past year the company has also advised on sales, including various Triumph businesses to Arlington Capital Partners and NWI Holdings, United Flexible to Smiths Group, ASCO Industries to Spirit AeroSystems, and Atlas Group to FMI.
