NEW YORK, November 3, 2010 – HNA Group Company Limited (HNA) of China, a leading diversified services company, and Bravia Capital (Bravia) of New York, today announced they have signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in myTECHNIC, based in Istanbul, Turkey, the first Lean (zero waste) Greenfield maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) center in the world. The transaction represents the strategic expansion of HNA’s global footprint into the high-growth marketplace of Turkey and surrounding regions.
Opened in 2008, myTECHNIC is an EASA-licensed, lean Aircraft MRO center, located in Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SAW) on the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey. As the first Lean Greenfield MRO in the world and first “Green Company” in Turkey, the nearly 650,000-square-foot facility includes 166,000 square feet of hangar bay; 267,000 square feet of shops, office area and storage area; and 65,000 square feet of engine shops. The facility’s innovative lean design contains three stories with no fixed service bays, which provides maximum flexibility for capacity planning and scheduling.
Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen International is one of the world’s fastest-growing airports, with annual passenger capacity exceeding 25 million. Its geographical location at the border of Asia and Europe makes it ideally suited to serve not just the domestic Turkish market, but surrounding countries in Europe, Asia, and North Africa as well. This consists of a total market of 5,200 aircraft from nearly 500 potential customers. myTECHNIC currently serves nearly 50 customers in ten established regions.
According to Mr. Jianping Dang, President of GCAT (Grand China Aviation Technik), “HNA Group is a worldwide leader in aviation, and myTECHNIC is representative of our strategy to invest in global transportation hubs with the highest growth potential. In addition, we anticipate being able to generate significant synergies between myTECHNIC and HNA’s aircraft and engine maintenance businesses. We are extremely excited to add myTECHNIC to our portfolio of world-class transportation companies and look forward to establishing a strong relationship between Turkey and China.”
Mr. Bharat Bhisé, CEO of Bravia Capital said, “Today’s news is another exciting development in our strategy to harness the growth potential of the transportation sector in an era of continuous globalization. Our investment in myTECHNIC follows a string of successful shipping and aviation acquisitions over the past twelve months, and reinforces our position as a leader in transportation investment worldwide. In addition to being one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, Turkey is strategically positioned as a key player for European, Central Asian and Middle Eastern aviation markets. myTECHNIC is positioned for extraordinary growth, and is also one of the world’s most innovative aviation-related companies with regard to efficiency and sustainability. We have ambitious growth plans for the company and look forward to establishing a significant footprint in the region.”
Mr. Daglar Cizmeci, CEO of myTechnic said, “We are honored to be a part of HNA’s strategic initiative into the European, MENA and CIS regions. We believe that myTECHNIC’s ability to provide low-cost, customer-centric services will help HNA in establishing a permanent presence in our region. Our aim to provide world-class aircraft MRO services in the region is now supported by HNA and its vision to bring aviation MRO service excellence closer to the world’s fastest growing aviation markets. We are also proud in facilitating the opportunity for all of our employees and stakeholders in becoming a sustainable part of an ever-growing aviation supply-chain market. Lastly, both the recently reinforced Chinese-Turkish economic relations and Turkish Transportation Ministry’s MRO Hub policy will be supported by this partnership.”
About HNA Group
HNA Group Co. Limited ("HNA") is a leading China-based conglomerate with substantial interests in tourism, transportation, financial services, real estate, airport, retail and logistics. Based in Haikou and Beijing, China, HNA has total assets exceeding USD $ 30 billion. Please find more information at www.hnagroup.com.About Bravia Capital
Bravia Capital is a New York based advisory, structured financing and investment management entity with a primary focus on transportation projects in Europe and Asia. Please find more information at www.braviacapital.com.
