Wencor West, Inc. (Springville, Utah) has acquired the Dixie Bearing new parts division of Aviation Sales Company (Miramar, Florida) (NYSE: AVS). Wencor West will bring Dixie Bearings in as Dixie Aerospace, part of the Aero Technologies Group.

Dixie Bearings is one of the largest aviation bearing distributors, with locations in Atlanta and the Netherlands.

Aviation Sales is the largest independent aircraft heavy maintenance company in North America and the largest redistributor of aircraft parts in the world.

In mid-August, Aviation Sales announced it was seeking a buyer for Dixie Bearings as part of a program to raise cash and pay down debt. Dixie was seen as a non-strategic component of Aviation Sales. Although sales have been strong for Aviation Sales, profitability has been problematic, with a major problem being interest expense on long-term debt.

Earlier in 2000, Aviation Sales had sold both Kratz-Wilde Machine Company and Apex Manufacturing in transactions which netted the company $41 million. The majority of those proceeds went to pay down long-term debt.

Aviation Sales said the selling price for Dixie was $17.7 million, netting the company as much as $13.5 million. This will also be used to pay down long-term debt.

Aviation Sales' Chairman and CEO Dale Baker said, "This transaction completes our efforts to reduce our debt through sales of our assets. This sale, together with the sales of our other assets which was completed during the last three quarters, has enabled us to reduce our outstanding senior debt from $283 million to $49 million."

Six maintenance, repair and overhaul (MR&O) companies now make up Aviation Sales: TIMCO, Aerocell Structures, Caribe Aviation, Aircraft Interior Design, TIMCO Engine Center and TIMCO Engineered Systems.

Wencor West said it will continue to operate Dixie's offices and distribution centers in both Atlanta and Amsterdam. The company will continue to operate as it is now structured, honoring all existing contracts and retaining all employees.

An interesting footnote to the sale is that Wencor West did not take title to any excess bearing inventory or problematic accounts receivable, valued between $5 million and $7 million. Instead, Dixie will sell off the excess bearing inventory and collect the accounts over the next five years, collecting consignment fees from Aviation Sales.

Wencor West's Dixie acquisition adds to its three other operations: Kitco, Inc., Durham Aircraft Services and Daniels Aircraft Parts. Brent Wood, Wencor's President, said their Aero Technologies Group will soon announce the opening of several more sales offices in several more countries in 1Q2001.