Pilatus Aircraft says that a predominantly Swiss Investor Group has signed a contract for the take-over of the full share capital of Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. The transaction is expected to have been completed by the end of January, 2001. The intention of the investors is to further develop Pilatus as an independent company and to be ready for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) within three to four years.

Said Angelo Fiatoruolo, president and ceo of Pilatus Business Aircraft: “The new owners of Pilatus have already indicated their intention to aggressively pursue expansion of production capacity to capitalise on the increasing demand for the PC-12.

“The current backlog of orders for the PC-12 suggests that a sales expansion of 10 to 15 per cent in 2001 is readily achievable.”

Meanwhile, company officials say the PC-21 project for a new, high-tech training aircraft has passed more than half of its development phase. The next milestone for the aircraft will be its roll-out at the end of 2001.