Kansas-based aftermarket PMA parts designer and manufacturer McFarlane Aviation has acquired Airforms, a company that has been designing, engineering and manufacturing proprietary aftermarket PMA parts and components for the general aviation sector for nearly 25 years, and is well-known for its engine baffle and Cessna Caravan product lines.

"McFarlane has been an integral distribution partner for Airforms," says Airforms founder Lee Budde. "It understands and knows our products and our people, and it was important to me to find a partner who would help us grow while preserving the legacy of our business."

"This acquisition is a natural extension for the McFarlane product line and our relationship with the Airforms team," adds McFarlane CEO Scott Still. "This will also allow us to further expand our engineering teams to develop new and exciting products for our customer base. We want to keep our customers flying."

McFarlane designs, manufactures and distributes more than 30,000 replacement parts and consumables for the general aviation market, specifically light single engine and turboprop aircraft. McFarlane's proprietary portfolio of PMA parts consists of approximately 3,000 parts used across Cessna, Piper, Grumman, Beechcraft, Ag-Cat airplanes and more. With over 50 years of experience, McFarlane reaches over 40,000 unique customers in the United States and internationally through its website and widely distributed catalogue.

This transaction is the first strategic add on for McFarlane since it was acquired by private equity firm Vance Street Capital III in October 2021.

"We're very excited to add Airforms to the McFarlane family; it provides a large number of new parts to our proprietary PMA catalogue," says VSC partner Nicholas Janneck. "We will continue to grow McFarlane through organic initiatives and M&A in a highly fragmented market."