UK MRO specialist Monarch Aircraft Engineering Ltd (MAEL) has completed binding agreements to sell its line maintenance activities in five separate transactions to unidentified industry operators. No sale price details have been revealed.
The sale follows confirmation last month that it was seeking to sell all or parts of its activities. Chris Dare, managing director, said: “We are pleased to have completed these transactions as this will provide the best possible future for our talented workforce in line maintenance and will ensure our customers continue enjoying a high quality service.”
The company is believed to be in discussions with other parties over the potential sale of other parts of its business. Its owner, private equity group Greybull Capital and its board of directors, decided to investigate a full or partial sale last month with parties both within the UK and overseas. That could also include its CAMO services and base maintenance.
Greybull became the majority shareholder of the maintenance and engineering business in October 2018, around a year after MAEL began operating as a standalone entity following the collapse of Monarch Airlines.
MAEL entered into a company voluntary arrangement (a form of insolvency) in November to shift historic debt it had inherited from the collapsed airline affiliate estimated at more than £100 million. The company confirmed at the time that the CVA presented the business with “a number of challenges which need to be resolved.”
MAEL currently services aircraft for airlines including Virgin Atlantic and easyJet from its base at Luton Airport, where it has around 700 personnel.
