MD Helicopters has been acquired by an investment consortium led by MBIA Insurance Corp, Bardin Hill and MB Global Partners. A new leadership team has been established.

Brad Pedersen will lead the team as MD Helicopters' president and CEO. Pedersen brings over 35 years of aerospace experience delivering accelerated growth and financial performance in leadership positions at Boeing Rotorcraft, Sikorsky Aircraft, Breeze-Eastern and other aerospace and defence companies. He started his career at Hughes Helicopters and has almost 20 years of engineering and leadership experience with the MD Helicopter product lines. He has also led the turnaround of several private and publicly owned companies, making him the ideal choice to lead MD.

"MD Helicopters has been an iconic name in the rotorcraft industry, and we will build on this rich heritage to serve and support our customers worldwide," he says. "Our immediate focus is to dramatically improve customer support, foster strong supplier relationships and implement an aggressive aircraft sales plan."

Pedersen will be supported by a highly experienced board of directors comprised of aerospace and defence executives and significant financial expertise.

Chairman of the board Edward Dolanski is a Fortune 50 business executive with over 30 years of experience leading organisations through performance turnarounds and into sustained growth. Dolanski's experience includes Boeing Government Services president, Aviall (a Boeing company) president and CEO and Raytheon Aircraft Company (Hawker Beechcraft customer support/aftermarket) vice president.

Board member (chair, governance and compliance committee) General (retired) Gustave Perna served as chief operating officer for Operation Warp Speed, in which he co-led the partnership of government, academia and industry to successfully accelerate the development, manufacturing and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines and therapeutics for the US. As Commander of US Army Materiel Command (AMC), one of the Army's largest commands with over 190,000 military, civilian and contractor employees, he was responsible for installations, logistics, sustainment and material readiness around the world.

Board member (chair, audit committee) Paul 'Flip' Huffard is a more than 30 year restructuring veteran with extensive financial management experience including as senior managing director at Blackstone's restructuring and reorganisation group.

Board member Anthony McKiernan is chairman and chief financial officer of MBIA Insurance Corp, board member Daniel Avitabile is president and chief risk officer of MBIA Corp, and board member John Greene is a partner and portfolio manager at Bardin Hill Investment Partners.