Canadian plane- and train-making giant Bombardier is firing 5,000 employees and just sold off one of its most famous assets for $300 million
- Bombardier announced a major overhaul of its business on Thursday that includes the sale of more than $900 million in assets and the loss of 5,000 jobs as part of its third-quarter earnings report.
- The company sold its Q Series turboprop airliner business to Viking Air for $300 million and its business aircraft flight and technical training business to CAE for $645 million.
- The deals are expected to net the company $900 million.
- The company will also lay off 5,000 employees over the next 12 to 18 months.
Canadian industrial giant Bombardier announced a major overhaul of its business on Thursday that includes the sale of $900 million in assets and the loss of 5,000 jobs as part of its third-quarter earnings report.
The company looks to be retrenching its resources to its rail transportation and business aviation activities. In fact, Bombardier announced that it is moving engineering talent to its business jet division. Bombardier CTO Francois Caza will also lead a new Advanced Technology Office, or ATO, that will apply aviation technology to its train business.
The Montreal-based firm has also agreed to sell its Q Series turbo-prop airliner program along with the de Havilland trademark to fellow Canadian aircraft manufacturer Viking Air for $300 million.
The sale of the Q Series program comes one year after Bombardier effectively gave away its prized C Series airliner program to Airbus. That aircraft has since been renamed the Airbus A220.
Read More: Check out the $62 million Bombardier private jet that's Canada's answer to Gulfstream.
"With our heavy investment cycle now completed, we continue to make solid progress executing our turnaround plan," Bombardier Inc. President and CEO Alain Bellemare said in a statement. "With today's announcements, we have set in motion the next round of actions necessary to unleash the full potential of the Bombardier portfolio."
Bombardier will also lay off 5,000 employees from across its various divisions. The layoffs are expected to take place over the next 12 to 18 months and are expected to save Bombardier $250 million by 2021.
Despite the layoffs and sale of assets, Bombardier saw earnings jump 48% over the same period last year with a profit of $271 million on $3.6 billion in revenues during the third quarter of 2018.
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