Piaggio Aerospace's extraordinary commissioners have set a January 30 deadline for bidders to submit final and binding offers for the purchase of the Italy-based airframer. The deadline, which the company said represents a rescheduling in the long-delayed process, follows a due diligence phase under which 13 potential bidders were permitted to review company data.

Officials handling bankruptcy proceedings for Piaggio had reopened the bidding process in May 2023 after a previous effort to finalize the sale of the company failed in 2022. The reopening of the process yielded 18 expressions of interest last June, and the field was narrowed in July for the acquisition of Piaggio Aero Industries and Piaggio Aviation, the two companies that operate collectively as Piaggio Aerospace.

Piaggio commissioners Carmelo Cosentino, Vincenzo Nicastro, and Gianpaolo Davide Rossetti had characterized the bidders as “first-level companies or consortia mainly with an industrial background, with an interest in buying the company in its entirety and mostly based in Italy or Europe.”

Originally, the commissioners had planned to ask for binding offers following the due diligence period in August.