VERO BEACH — Piper Aircraft Inc. has been sold to an international investment firm for an undisclosed price.

The Vero Beach-based plane maker announced today that Imprimis purchased 100 stake in the company from American Capital Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACAS).

“Imprimis intends to invest significant capital in Piper’s current operations to strengthen its position in its traditional markets and support the development of key new products such as the PiperJet,” Piper said in a statement.

Imprimis, which operates from offices in Bangkok, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, is committed to keeping Piper’s headquarters in Vero Beach, the company said.

The company was drawn to Piper because of the potential it sees to expand into Asian markets, where demand for two- to six-seat aircraft is expected to grow in the next five years.

“Imprimis brings a level of support that will propel Piper from its current status as a company with a strong heritage, track record of innovation and great potential to one that is growing and pushing the envelope within general aviation,” Piper President and Chief Executive James K. Bass said in the statement.

“Imprimis’ commitment to grow Piper in both existing and emerging markets comes at a time when we are poised to enter a new era in aviation history.”

Tags: Aircraft, american capital, beach, chief, development, emergency, history, imprimis, Piper, Plane, planes, prices, Tradition

This entry was posted on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 1:31 pm and is filed under Economy, Indian River County, Treasure Coast business, Vero Beach. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.