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Textron’s Cessna Completes Acquisition of Columbia Aircraft Assets


WEBWIRE

Wichita, Kan.– Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, today finalized its purchase of select assets of Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Company.

Cessna’s auction bid of $26.4 million for the Bend, Oregon-based producer of high-performance, single-engine aircraft was accepted by court order on Nov. 28 by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon. Company officials spent the past week finalizing the acquisition.

With the deal now closed, the Bend factory will carry the Cessna name and the Columbia products will be branded as the Cessna 350 and the Cessna 400. These two low-wing, composite aircraft will complement Cessna’s existing line of eight piston models. Cessna also manufactures turboprops and the world’s best-selling line of business jets, the Cessna Citation.

Cessna Parts Distribution and the Cessna network of authorized dealers and service centers have already begun plans to integrate sales and support of the new Cessna 350 and Cessna 400 aircraft.

Based on unit sales, Cessna Aircraft Company is the world’s largest manufacturer of general aviation airplanes. In 2006, Cessna delivered 1,239 aircraft, including 307 Citation business jets, and reported revenues of about $4.2 billion. Cessna has a current backlog of $11.9 billion. Since the company was originally established in 1927, some 190,000 Cessna airplanes have been delivered to nearly every country in the world. The global fleet of more than 5,000 Citations is the largest fleet of business jets in the world. More information about Cessna Aircraft Company is available at http://www.cessna.com.

Textron Inc. is an $11 billion multi-industry company operating in 32 countries with approximately 40,000 employees. The company leverages its global network of aircraft, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft Company, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Greenlee, Fluid & Power, Textron Systems and Textron Financial Corporation. More information is available at http://www.textron.com.



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