China Firm To Buy Cirrus Aircraft

China Aviation Industry General Aircraft (CAIGA) has signed an agreement to purchase Cirrus Aircraft from the several hundred shareholders that own the Duluth, Minn.-based light-airplane manufacturer. Sellers include private-equity firm Arcapita, which owns 60 percent of Cirrus, and former Cirrus chairman and cofounder Alan Klapmeier. CAIGA, based in Zhuhai, is a division of China's Avic International, which recently announced plans to buy piston-engine manufacturer Teledyne Continental Motors (a provider of Cirrus engines). CAIGA also owns rights to develop Epic single-engine turboprops outside the U.S. The Cirrus purchase will take place in about six months, pending government approvals.