It coupled that to a warning that the company\u2019s board had ordered \u201ca fundamental shift in its operational and investment focus.\u201d<\/p>\n
This makes \u201cthe development of its [U.K.] real estate assets \u2026 not only a priority, but a primary objective,\u201d Marshall said in its annual report.<\/p>\n
The company was also at risk of breaching some of its loan agreements and wound up having to renegotiate the terms of one of them, the report said.<\/p>\n
Marshall\u2019s broader C-130 business is one of the main problems the board\u2019s stress tests underscored. It was working on and holding 15 former Royal Air Force C-130s pending their resale, which needed regulatory approval from the U.S. government that was slow in coming.<\/p>\n
An analysis<\/a> by the U.K. research firm Equity Development found that Marshall was \u201cin financial distress, with banking covenant breached and cash draining out of the business.\u201d<\/p>\n Its aerospace business \u201cwas mostly loss-making,\u201d despite the prospect of selling the former RAF C-130s<\/a> and a major repair contract with the U.S. Marine Corps<\/a>. (The company is performing similar work<\/a> on the Blue Angels\u2019 \u201cFat Albert.\u201d)<\/p>\n Some of Marshall\u2019s other businesses also weren\u2019t doing well, and it has since sold off<\/a> at least one of them.<\/p>\n The prospective real estate deal would enable Marshall to \u201cunlock the value\u201d in its U.K. property, which is at the Cambridge City Airport about 65 miles north of London, Equity Development said.<\/p>\n But it will need to find a new home for its aerospace division at a cost \u201cupwards of \u00a3100 million,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the equivalent of about $131.7 million.<\/p>\n Its 480 acres alone is worth more than the company\u2019s \u00a3100.4 million ($132.2 million) market capitalization, Equity Development\u2019s analysis said.<\/p>\n At PTI, Marshall was slated to join HondaJet, AAR, Boom Supersonic and JetZero in becoming the core of the airport\u2019s industrial base.<\/p>\n Of those, HondaJet is the only one currently making airplanes. AAR has a service operation there after the company bought out<\/a> HAECO Americas.<\/p>\n Officials who\u2019ve incentivized the projects understand Boom and JetZero to be high-risk, high-reward plays if those companies succeed in designing, building and selling new types of airliners.<\/p>\n