Daher Group of Wissous, France, on October 21 announced it has completed the acquisition of Quest Aircraft Company, based in Sandpoint, Idaho. Daher describes this move as a major milestone in the French corporation’s growth of its North American operations.
With the acquisition of Quest, the Daher Group states it is now able to deploy its full range of activities in North America, including aircraft manufacturing, the production of systems and equipment, and the supply of logistics and services.
Daher now joins the list of aircraft manufacturers that have final assembly lines on multiple continents. The company builds its family of TBM turboprop aircraft in Tarbes, France, while Quest Aircraft assembles the Kodiak utility airplane in Sandpoint.
“Our acquisition of the Quest Aircraft Company is perfectly aligned with Daher’s strategy to intensify its business footprint in America,” said Didier Kayat, CEO, Daher. “In addition to adding the Kodiak to our aircraft portfolio, we have now gained a major competitive advantage for all of Daher’s aerospace business lines in North America.”
By expanding its product line to include both the Kodiak and TBM, Daher states it is now the seventh-ranked general aviation airplane manufacturer worldwide, strengthens its position in single-engine turboprop aircraft.
Daher describes the TBM as the world’s fastest single-engine turboprop-powered airplane, with more than 950 delivered to owners and operators around the globe. There are more than 270 multi-mission Kodiak aircraft in use worldwide.
“The integration of Kodiak into Daher’s aircraft family provides us with excellent commercial, industrial and geographical synergies,” saiod Nicolas Chabbert, senior vice president of the Daher Airplane Business Unit. “In addition to its production capacity, the Sandpoint, Idaho facility becomes part of our direct sales and maintenance networks, enabling Daher to maintain its competitive edge in the turboprop aircraft sector.”
