Finmeccanica and GKN have put the finishing touches to the merger of their Agusta and Westland helicopter divisions. Negotiations had been lengthy. Agusta Westland, as the newly formed company will be called, claims to be the second largest helicopter producer in the world, and the biggest in Europe.

Manoeuvring for the deal began as far back as 1998. Marc Holloran, communications manager at GKN, said: “It was then that it was announced that the parents wanted to go out with each other, if you see what I mean,” he said, using the old marriage analogy. “They were courting. When it got to Farnborough 2000, we agreed to go down the aisle. Between 1998 and Farnborough was a period of nitty-gritty and discussion negotiations. Since the air show, we have had to wait for European regulatory approval.”

The final signatures went on the dotted line on February 10.

The company would have had a turnover of $2.1 billion in 1999 had it existed then, and says it is

the second largest helicopter manufacturer after Boeing.

“If you look at the overall landscape of the aerospace industry in Europe,” said Holloran, “the main enemy is America. There are too many players within the European stage, but there are still very few in comparison with the US. Combining Agusta and GKN, we are able to offer a wide range of products. Our experience is military, their’s is primarily civil. We have been working with Agusta for a long time on the EH 101. It kind of made sense for us to combine our operations, and in the longer term this will lead to economies of scale and higher competitiveness. There has to be gravitas in the marketplace now,” he said.

GKN Westland has no tilt rotor product of its own; instead, according to Holloran, it has been looking at compounding existing designs and at blade technology. But he acknowledges that tilt rotors could be the future for the helicopter industry; so we asked him if Agusta’s tilt rotor technology was a prime motivation for the deal. He said: “I think one has to look at it from the point of view of the customer. Yes, the tilt rotor is obviously a huge benefit for the customer. I think it will provide more choice for the customer and more competitiveness in future contracts.”