UTC finalizes $70 million purchase of PZL-Rzeszow

The Treasury Ministry has reached a final agreement with a unit of United Technologies Holding (UTC) of the United States on the sale of 85% of shares in State-owned aircraft components manufacturer Wytwornia Sprzetu Komunikacyjnego PZL-Rzeszow. The US investor agreed the terms of the deal last year. However, it had to wait for the necessary permission from Polish regulators. UTC is committed to investing $70 million over five years in PZL-Rzeszow, in addition to the initial $70 million payment for the 85% stake. "We are selling perhaps the best company in this industry to a world market leader, which has promised to increase the company's share capital and double exports over the next few years," Treasury Minister Wieslaw Kaczmarek told reporters on signing the deal. He went on, "This is the next step in the privatization of the defense sector." Last year PZL Warszawa-Okecie was sold to CASA of Spain, as part of a $210 million deal to buy eight military transport planes. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 3; Reuters) P.W.