Bombardier will add a wholly-owned service center in Berlin through an agreement to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares it doesn’t own of Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services from Lufthansa Technik and ExecuJet Aviation Group, the Canadian airframer announced today. The deal is expected to close before the end of the year.

“This investment is critical to the expansion of our service footprint in Europe and around the world, and as the service center is set to become a wholly-owned Bombardier service center, our customers will benefit from even more advantages and expertise offered by the OEM,” said Jean-Christophe Gallagher, Bombardier Aviation v-p and general manager of customer experience. Since 1997, the jointly owned service center has supported Learjet, Challenger, and Global owners and operators in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Russia. It was Bombardier’s first service center in Europe to support customers of its flagship Global 7500.

At 160,000 sq ft, the service center employs 240 workers and will join other wholly-owned Bombardier service centers under construction or expansion, including at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, London Biggin Hill, and in the Singapore Seletar Aerospace Park.