Airbus SE (PA:AIR) is set to close a deal to take a controlling stake in Bombardier Inc's (TO:BBDb) CSeries jetliner program, effective July 1, the companies said on Friday, in a move expected to kickstart the European planemaker's ability to put its marketing and cost-cutting muscle into the Canadian plane program.
Bombardier agreed in October to sell Airbus a 50.01 percent stake in its flagship commercial jet for a symbolic Canadian dollar, as the plane program battled sluggish sales and low production, which made it harder to keep a lid on costs.
Airbus, by contrast, will be able to offer airlines deals by packaging the CSeries with its own jets and is expected to use its purchasing prowess to drastically cut the price of parts, along with improving efficiencies internally.
Bombardier will now own about 31 percent, while Investissement Quebec, the investment arm of the province of Quebec, will hold a 19 percent stake.
The Quebec government, through its financing arm, took a 49 percent stake in the CSeries program in 2015 for $1 billion. Quebec's share, most recently worth 38 percent, slipped to 19 percent following the deal with Airbus.
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