Mooney Airplane Company Stock Sale Strengthens Airplane Manufacturer, Provides $4 Million Working Capital

Business Wire via COMTEX

Jun 1, 2004 12:22:00 PM

KERRVILLE, Texas, Jun 1, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

The sale of Mooney Airplane Company's stock to Allen Holding Finance Ltd., which was announced today by its former parent, Mooney Aerospace Group Ltd. (OCTBB:MASG), will greatly strengthen the 51-year-old airplane manufacturing business, according to Barry Hodkin, Mooney Airplane Company's Chief Operating Officer.

'We are delighted that our new owner has made provision for providing $4 million in new capital for the company. This will allow us to achieve our business plan, and should remove all doubts about Mooney's financial stability. I am pleased that our sales and marketing efforts resulted in the sale of four new airplanes in May, and we are anticipating an outstanding year for the sale of all of our aircraft models. I want to particularly recognize the efforts of our new Vice President of Sales and Marketing, David Copeland, who has done a remarkable job of jump-starting our sales effort,'Hodkin remarked.

According to Hodkin, 'We have had a tremendous reception of our new GX models, the Bravo GX and the Ovation2 GX, both of which incorporate the remarkable Garmin G-1000 glass panel display. We anticipate FAA certification of both aircraft in August, and we will have them on display at our booth in Oshkosh in July. We have also had brisk sales of our conventionally instrumented airplanes, the Bravo DX and the Ovation2 DX. We are, I believe, the only manufacturer that has kept both types of instrument displays available. Pilots can make their own decision about what technology they want in their new Mooney.'

Mooney Airplane Company's board of directors recently adopted an aggressive business plan that will assure the long-term success and profitability of the company. Mr. Hodkin observed: 'Allen Holding has committed sufficient working capital to fund our new business plan, and we look forward to working with our new parent to achieve our business objectives. We put our customers first, and we will now have the financial security that we need to serve them well and to assure Mooney's long term success.'

Hodkin also commented that: 'We have been ramping up our workforce of highly skilled craftsman. We have been fortunate to add more than 20 new employees during the past three weeks, and we now employ over 200 people. We are planning to add more employees to our direct work force as required to meet our new plane orders.'

SOURCE: Mooney Aerospace Group Ltd.

Mooney Aerospace Group Ltd., Kerrville J. Nelson Happy, 830-792-2917

It appears that Boeing Wichita's commercial division is not Boeing's only major operation in the market for buyers. Boeing may sell its Rocketdyne Propulsion and Power unit, a California rocket-engine builder, according to a report in the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Boeing is quietly seeing whether there is interest among defense companies to acquire Rocketdyne, which could be worth about $600 million, the report said.

Boeing acquired Rocketdyne in 1996 when it bought the aerospace and defense units of Rockwell International Corp. for $3.2 billion.

Wichita native and former Raytheon Aircraft executive David Copeland, 42, is in the air a lot these days. Copeland is Mooney Airplane Co.' s new head of sales and marketing. He's keeping his home in Wichita, but flying back and forth to Kerrville, Texas, during the week.

Copeland is excited about his new job.

"We're re-branding and re-launching the company at Oshkosh this year," Copeland said.

Visitors to the Experimental Aircraft Association's world-renowned AirVenture Convention in Oshkosh next month will be able to see Mooney's aircraft on display along with its new look and feel, he said. Mooney also may unveil some new enhancements to its aircraft line next month.

Copeland, a former American Airlines pilot, most recently was Raytheon Aircraft Co.' s vice president for worldwide sales and marketing and worked at Cessna Aircraft Co. as international area manager. His parents owned and operated the former Copeland Airport for many years.

Englewood, Colo.-based Adam Aircraft has received an order for 75 of its A700 AdamJet light jets from a startup air taxi company.

The company, which has yet to be named, plans to use the jets for short-haul, on-demand, point-to-point air transportation services. The air taxi company is led by Donald Burr, founder of People Express, and Robert Crandall, the former American Airlines chief executive.

Adam officials expect to receive government certification of the A700 early next year, with first deliveries to follow shortly thereafter.

South African arms manufacturer Denel opened a multimillion-dollar manufacturing plant in Johannesburg in late May after receiving a contract from Boeing to supply 15,000 aircraft parts a month.

Denel will build components of Boeing's 747, 737-800s and 777, according to a story from South Africa's Business Day. Denel will be Boeing's exclusive supplier of the components, the story said.

Boeing funded the plant, near Johannesburg International Airport, and equipped it with production machinery, the report said. The partnership with Denel is linked to South Africa's purchase of 21 Boeing 737-800s for South African Airways, according to Business Day.

German charter company Cirrus Aviation has placed an order for a Wichita-built Learjet 40 light business jet.

It's the second Learjet 40 for the company.

Mooney Aerospace Group Ltd. Files for Chapter XI Bankruptcy Reorganization
via COMTEX

June 11, 2004

KERRVILLE, Texas, Jun 11, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

Mooney Aerospace Group (OTCBB:MASG) announced today that it filed a petition for reorganization under Chapter XI of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on June 10, 2004. The company intends to rapidly work to file a plan of reorganization in the proceeding.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). In particular, when used in the preceding discussion, the words "plan," "confidant that," "believe," "scheduled," "expect," or "intend to," and similar conditional expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements within the meaning of the Act and are subject to the safe harbor created by the Act. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and actual results could differ materially from those expressed in any of the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, market conditions, the availability of components and successful production of the Company's products, general acceptance of the Company's products and technologies, competitive factors, timing, and other risks described in the Company's SEC reports and filings.

SOURCE: Mooney Aerospace Group Ltd.

Mooney Aerospace Group Ltd., Kerrville J. Nelson Happy, 830-792-2917