Mubadala planning acquisition of Iranian MRO?

A senior advisor to the Iranian Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) revealed to Arabian Aerospace, on condition of anonymity, that, “right now there are ongoing talks between Mubadala and one of our largest MRO centres regarding a major investment. They have been going on for some time.”

The source, talking from Tehran, would not clarify which MRO centre is the subject of the talks.

Mubadala refused to confirm or deny the claim. “Mubadala does not comment on market speculation,” a spokesperson for the Abu Dhabi-based owned aerospace investment firm said.

Mubadala Aerospace has a growing stake in the MRO sector, and executive director Grant Skinner recently told Arabian Aerospace that “organic growth is too slow” for the company and that they are very much open to overseas acquisitions.

Iran’s MRO segment is ripe for investment. It houses the largest MRO hangar in the Middle East in Fars Co.(pictured right), the average labour costs are a fraction of those compared with European and American wages. And it has some of the most experienced aircraft mechanics and technicians, having maintained and repaired the world’s second oldest fleets for more than three decades.

But the potential deal between Abu Dhabi and Iran is politically sensitive. The ongoing frisson between the two governments has been exacerbated in recent years owing to the detention of UAE journalists in Tehran, the rumbling dispute over three island near the Strait of Hormuz and the wider GCC’s scepticism of America’s plans to relax the US Congress sanctions that prevent Iran from developing its nuclear programme.
 

Addendum: A Mubadala spokesman subsequently called our offices to confirm there was no basis to these claims.