Alan Klapmeier, chairman of Cirrus Aircraft, has formed a team to raise funds to try to buy the Vision SF50 single-engine jet program from majority Cirrus owner Arcapita Bank. āI feel comfortable that we can do this,ā said Klapmeier. āObviously itās a difficult time to be raising capital, but that means more focus on funding better projects. This is a good project to fund.ā Although Cirrus has refunded about 8 percent of Vision deposits, according to president and CEO Brent Wouters, the jet program āis absolutely still under way.ā There are deposits for more than 400 Visions, he told AIN.
While the news about Klapmeierās plan to buy the jet program was released today, he plans to update attendees during a speech tomorrow morning at the annual Cirrus Migration in Duluth, Minn. He admitted, āWeāve been exploring this possibility for a while. The conclusion weāve reached with Arcapita is that this was going to become more widespread, and rather than rumors, it was time to talk more publicly about this process.ā
Klapmeierās effort is currently operating under the name Aegis, but that may change. The only other team member he would name at this point is Ed Underwood, one of the cofounders of Arcapita and a former Cirrus board member. Until Klapmeier raises the necessary funds and completes a transaction with Arcapita, the jet, he said, āis still a Cirrus program and Cirrus continues to fund it and make progress.ā
If his bid is successful, Klapmeier and his team will need to build a new facility to house the Vision jet program or possibly negotiate a manufacturing agreement with Cirrus, which is highly experienced in building composite airframes. āAddressing that question will be part of a final deal,ā Klapmeier said. āThere are a lot of advantages to staying connected. Itās not a requirement, but itās a benefit that needs to be considered. Weāll be able to build it without them, and theyāll be able to finish without us. This is about looking for the mutually most beneficial path, and thatās what weāre exploring.ā
The fundamental issue that prompted Klapmeier to pursue taking over the Vision program is that if the program remains with Cirrus, further delays will be inevitable. The original funding plan was to rely on a combination of internal Cirrus money and external capital, he explained. āAs situations change, the market for new aircraft [has deteriorated] and Cirrus has had to make lots of tough choices recently. The board obviously has to look at what our other options are for getting the jet done. I think all parties would agreeāCirrus, Arcapita, certainly our teamāthat this is really about getting the jet done. For me it would be a tragedy if customers who are excited about this airplane were not able to get it. In these capital-constrained times, this seems like a good way to get the airplane done. Certainly the customers want the airplane finished sooner rather than later, and thatās clearly going to require additional capital, and so now itās a question of where that capital is going to come from. But without additional capital, the program will take longer.ā
Commenting on Klapmeierās announcement, Wouters reaffirmed Cirrusās commitment to the Vision jet program. There are 120 people focused on the program, he said, now working on detail design of structure, systems and tooling. āToday weāre cash-flowing it and devoting every bit of our R&D resources, both cash and otherwise, to the jet,ā he said. āWeāre making good progress. But weāve always thought the program might need some outside capital, [which] would allow us to do things a little more efficiently, a little faster. Our expectation is that we will continue to do it internally and that weāll move forward accordingly. Itās a strategic initiative for us and will continue to be a strategic initiative for us.ā
Wouters acknowledged that Klapmeier ādid approach the Cirrus board and express a desire to maybe acquire the program, and in an effort to make sure we were looking at every dark corner of the world for capital, we said, sure, we donāt know what will come of it, weāll see what he can come up with. Alan has a unique capability to get people interested in this, and heās got a proposal; weāre happy to hear it.ā
On the eve of the annual Cirrus owner migration event in Duluth, Minn., Cirrus chairman Alan Klapmeier announced today that he has assembled a team to acquire the aircraft manufacturerās Vision SF50 single-engine jet program from majority owner Arcapita Bank. We
talked with Klapmeier to get more details and find out why heās pursuing this course.