Kongsberg Gruppen, Patria Acquire Aerospace Industrial Maintenance Norway

The Kongsberg group and Finnish defense group Patria together have entered into agreement with the Norwegian Ministry of Defence for the acquisition of Aerospace Industrial Maintenance Norway AS (AIM).

AIM is the Norwegian armed force’s business for maintenance, overhaul and upgrade of the Air Force’s aircraft and helicopters. Kongsberg has entered into agreement with Patria for a shared ownership where Kongsberg is the majority shareholder with 50.1% ownership and Patria with 49.9%, the company said in a statement Thursday.

The acquisition is a major step in consolidating the Norwegian industry’s capability for military aircraft and helicopter maintenance.

AIM has played a major role in Norwegian aviation industry since 1916 and has 440 employees. The company has its main operating base at Kjeller and an operative unit at Rygge air station. AIM has 100% ownership in the Belgium Engine Center SPRL(BEC) in Herstal outside of Liege in Belgium. The AIM Group conducts advanced and heavy maintenance, overhaul and upgrade primarily within air military operations. Important priorities are engine maintenance for the new F-35 aircraft and for Norway’s new search and rescue helicopters.

An important factor during the acquisition process has been to facilitate the development of AIM to become a main provider of maintenance of the Norwegian Defense force’s airforce systems, so that AIM can contribute to safeguard national readiness on such maintenance. This co-operation will strengthen national ability to sustain a qualified readiness for such competence in Norway.

AIM Group is expected to have a revenue of around NOK 1 billion (US$ 117 million) and an EBITDA margin of 8-9% for 2018. The parties have agreed an enterprise value of NOK 151 million (US$ 17.6 million), on a cash and debt free basis, and with normalized working capital. This value reflects i.a. a commitment for AIM to invest around NOK 540 million (US$ 63 million) in the new F-35 national facility at Rygge over the next 2-3 years.