The Timken Company (USA; NYSE: TKR) announced it will acquire Turbo Engines Inc., (USA, a division of Bristow Group; NYSE: BRS), a leading provider of helicopter engine and gearbox overhaul and repair services.

Timken reportedly paid USD $14 million cash for the Mesa, Arizona - based business, which will become part of its Timken Alcor Aerospace Technologies aftermarket unit. Turbo Engines' Mesa operations include a 42,000 square foot manufacturing space and 35 employees -- primarily airframe and powerplant technical specialists. Bristow acquired Turbo Engines in 2001 and will take a $2.5 million loss on the sale.

Turbo Engines repairs, overhauls and offers support services for a particularly wide array of helicopter engines: Pratt & Whitney PT6A and TwinPac Series engines; Bell components in the 204, 205, 206 and 212 series; and Honeywell T53 Series engines and Goodrich fuel controls. It also offers a wide variety of services, including complete engine and gearbox overhaul and accessory and part reconditioning, along with test cells, balancing, exchange programs and field support.

In 2005, the company earned a, "Certificate of Excellence" Gold Award from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The acquisition allows both Timken and Bristow to move in directions they say are better suited to their respective futures. Bristow said it intends to focus more on its core business, helicopter services for offshore energy operations. Timken said the acquisition is just the latest in a series of related moves to strengthen its presence in the global aerospace sector. Turbo Engines was not only a key aerospace customer of Timken's, but also services Bristow's extensive helicopter fleet.

Bristow President and Chief Executive Officer, William Chiles, said: "While Turbo Engines has been a profitable part of Bristow for the past five years, we are pleased to capitalize on this opportunity to allow us to concentrate capital on opportunities in our core offshore helicopter services business and to strengthen our relationship with an important supplier, Timken."

J. Ron Menning, Timken VP of Aerospace and Super Precision, said: "The addition of Turbo Engines represents a significant expansion in our ability to deliver enhanced value to the aerospace aftermarket through fully integrating a total service offering of critical products and services. The combination of new engine overhaul capabilities with Timken's existing replacement parts and service operations opens up powerful opportunities to provide complete fleet support for our growing aviation customer base. We intend to expand our aerospace portfolio by making strategic investments that help us improve customers' performance."

Timken now has aerospace aftermarket operations covering technology, development, engineering, manufacturing, repair and fleet support. All of Timken's existing aircraft and aerospace bearing operations are in the U.S. and UK at this point. Timken Aerospace and Landing Wheels are both in Lebanon, New Hampshire; Bearing Inspection, acquired a year ago, is in Los Alamitos, California; Aftermarket Solutions is in Mesa, Arizona, and Aerospace UK is in Wolverhampton, UK. Although Turbo Engines would be Timken's second Mesa location, the company said it has no plans yet to consolidate the two.

In November, Timken announced it is building a $15 million aerospace bearing plant in China.

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