Exclusive-Buyout, aerospace firms close in on $8 billion-plus Boeing navigation unit, sources say

By Milana Vinn, Dan Catchpole and Mike Stone

(Reuters) - Several private equity firms and at least one aerospace supplier are among the remaining bidders competing to buy Boeing's Jeppesen navigation unit for more than $8 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

Boeing is expected to invite bids for Jeppesen from the suitors in the coming weeks, six sources told Reuters, requesting anonymity as the discussions are confidential.

In recent weeks, several private equity firms have joined together to pursue a buyout of Jeppesen. Those private equity groups include Vista Equity and Warburg Pincus; Advent International and Permira; and TPG and Francisco Partners, according to three of the sources.

The remaining parties also include aircraft parts maker TransDigm, and technology-focused buyout firms Thoma Bravo and Silver Lake, who are bidding separately.

Honeywell and Carlyle had also expressed interest in acquiring Jeppesen, the sources added. It is unclear whether Honeywell and Carlyle are planning to submit final offers. Honeywell has its own competing navigation products.

If the talks to sell Jeppesen are successful, the deal would rank as one of the biggest carve-out transactions in recent memory. In 2023, Ball Corp sold its aerospace assets to Britain's BAE Systems for about $5.6 billion.

The final offers are expected to value Jeppesen between $8 billion and $9 billion, three sources said. Boeing had initially expected to fetch a price of more than $6 billion when the auction was launched late last year, but robust demand from potential buyers has pushed up the price tag, the sources said.

Boeing is expected to further whittle down the list of potential buyers in the coming weeks ahead of final-round bids, one of the sources said.

Boeing, TransDigm, Vista, Warburg Pincus, Advent, Permira, TPG, Francisco Partners, Thoma Bravo, Silver Lake, and Honeywell declined to comment. Carlyle did not respond to a request for comment.

The planned sale of Jeppesen is part of CEO Kelly Ortberg's plan to streamline Boeing and reduce its debt pile by selling non-core businesses. In February, British Airways said it was buying Boeing's maintenance operation at Gatwick Airport near London.

Boeing is separately attempting to offload its drone business Insitu.

Jeppesen, which provides navigation products and software, is seen as a sought-after asset that could boost aerospace contractors and private equity firms, that typically like to buy businesses that generate steady cash flow.

TransDigm, which has a market value of about $77 billion, has struck several bolt-on deals in recent years. The Cleveland, Ohio-based company acquired DART Aerospace for $360 million in 2022; Calspan for $725 million and CPI's electron device business for $1.4 billion in 2023; and Raptor Scientific for $655 million in 2024.

If TransDigm is successful in its pursuit of Jeppesen, it would mark the company's largest acquisition and give it access to new offerings that would complement its components-focused operations.  

Boeing acquired Englewood, Colorado-based Jeppesen for $1.5 billion in 2000. The company's founder, Elrey Borge Jeppesen, started selling the world's first navigation charts for pilots in the mid-1930s, while flying for Boeing-owned airlines. 

(Reporting by Dan Catchpole in Seattle, Milana Vinn in New York; and Mike Stone in Washington, Additional reporting by Allison Lampert; Editing by Anirban Sen and Rod Nickel)