Broughton Aerospace firm Gardner sold to Chinese group

A Broughton firm which supplies Airbus has been sold to a Chinese group for £326m following five months of talks.

Derby based Gardner Aerospace employs around 700 staff in the UK, as well as Broughton, the firm has facilities in Hull, Basildon, Pershore, a further 700 people, are employed in France, Poland and India.

Ligeance Investments, a subsidiary of Shaanxi Ligeance Mineral Resources, purchased the firm from Venture capitalist Jon Moulton’s Better Capital.

Better Capital PCC Limited, Gardner’s parent company, announced in November 2016 it had received a cash offer and entered into exclusive discussions with SLMR.

“The acquisition of Gardner will allow us to serve our customers better – in China and the rest of the world – for decades to come,” explained Lizhi Wang, Vice President of SLMR and CEO of CAST.

She added: “With the management team at Gardner together with our advisers – we intend to further consolidate the global aerospace supply chain through careful strategic acquisitions.”

The share sale agreement estimated to be close to 105p per share is subject to government and regulatory approval.

Completion is expected in May or June.

Better Capital’s acquired Gardner Aerospace in February 2010, and the company was founded in the 1950s.