AML Global Eclipse—a U.S.-based subsidiary of international fuel provider AML Global and backed by company president Christopher Harborne—intends to purchase the remnants of Eclipse Aerospace, which merged with Kestrel Aircraft in 2015 to form One Aviation. The sale was first alluded to in an October 14 status conference before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, which has overseen the One Aviation bankruptcy case since October 2018.
“In these extraordinary and challenging times we saw the need to act decisively to protect and keep together the essential aspects of the Eclipse Aircraft project: the intellectual property, human capital, and supplier network,” Harborne said. “The alternative would have been a Chapter 7 liquidation, which would have been catastrophic for the project and the existing fleet.”
While a successful asset sale would likely stave off court-mandated liquidation, AML Global Eclipse nevertheless intends to purchase the assets at a sharply discounted price while also acknowledging “it is not yet clear what the future prospects for the Eclipse project might be.”
An October 20 sale motion proposes a price tag of $5.25 million, with a $500,000 payment due immediately upon court approval—much less than the approximately $13 million proposed in a now-defunct bid by SE Falcon for all of One Aviation in late August.
The court scheduled a November 6 sale hearing over objections from Citiking International US, which was ousted from the sale process after its own failure to fund One Aviation’s emergence from Chapter 11. In asking the court to maintain the original November 18 hearing date, Citiking said it “may wish to participate in the sale motion as a competing bidder, and it should have the opportunity to be heard on its rights.”
Meanwhile, AML Global Eclipse appears eager to collaborate with Eclipse stakeholders. “We welcome contact from any and all furloughed or former employees, suppliers, service providers, and Eclipse aircraft owners and discussing how we can build a successful future together,” the company stated.