Chinese company to buy US aircraft maker

Meijing Group, a Chinese real estate developer, is expected to complete its purchase of Mooney Aviation Company Inc., a US-based manufacturer of utility aircraft, in November, a company source said on Tuesday.

The takeover should be completed next month after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United Statesapproved the deal on Oct. 2, said an executive with the Meijing Group, which is based in central China's Henan Province.

The approval came roughly one month after U.S. regulators approved Hong Kong-based Shuanghui International's acquisition of Smithfield Foods at 7.1 billion U.S. dollars, marking the biggest Chinese acquisition of a U.S. company.

Shuanghui International and its subsidiaries are the majority shareholders of Henan Shuanghui Investment and Development Co., which is China's largest meat processing enterprise, also based in Henan Province.

The deal between Meijing Group and Mooney is expected to revive the 84-year-old manufacturer of single-engine general aviation aircraft, which laid off employees and suspended production in 2010.

Besides producing aircraft, the new Mooney will run businesses of components supply, second-hand aircraft trading and renovation, mainly focusing on the Chinese and Asian markets, according to the executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

So far, neither Meijing Group nor Mooney have released the cost of the purchase to the public.

Meijing Group, registered in the provincial capital of Zhengzhou in 2002, is aiming to expand its business outside of real estate development.

Zhengzhou was approved as the nation's first air economic zone by the State Council, China's Cabinet, early this year. Since then, it has been on a fast track of transitioning from a railway-pivoted economy to an aerotropolis.