Dubai Aerospace in talks to merge assets with British firm

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), owner of U.S.-based engine repair and maintenance business StandardAero, is in talks to merge parts of its business with British aircraft services firm BBA Aviation , it said on Monday.

Dubai government-owned DAE said the talks were at a preliminary stage and gave no further details.

Its statement came after the Sunday Times newspaper reported BBA was holding talks with StandardAero over a 2.7 billion pound ($4.2 billion) tie-up.

The paper said DAE was seeking 1.3 billion pounds for StandardAero, which it bought six years ago.

Any sale would join a series of asset disposals by Dubai, which is seeking to raise money to repay about $50 billion of debt that matures over the next three years.

DAE, which specializes in aircraft maintenance and leasing, put StandardAero up for sale in 2010 and retained Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) to advise on the sale, Reuters reported at the time. However, the process moved slowly.

After ordering more than 200 aircraft during an industry boom in 2007, DAE’s leasing unit has been forced to cancel orders. In 2011, it canceled outstanding Airbus orders worth $5.8 billion and also canceled orders for 35 Boeing 737s.-Reuters