ROME — Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar has purchased Italy’s Piaggio Aerospace, reflecting Baykar’s growing global ambitions while marking a timely rescue for the troubled Italian aircraft producer.
The deal, which was announced on Friday by Italy’s industry ministry, follows six years of Italian state management at Piaggio after it went into receivership in 2018.
Founded in 1884 and one of the world’s oldest aviation firms, Piaggio is known for its P.180 business turboprop but has also secured maintenance work in recent years on Italian army helicopters.
In a statement, the Italian industry ministry said Baykar had been picked as buyer over two other suitors.
Its offer, which was not quantified in the statement, was “the most suitable to guarantee the interests of the employees and creditors” of Piaggio Aerospace and to “relaunch the group’s industrial prospects.”
Industry minister Adolfo Urso said the deal “has guaranteed the relaunch of the company with a clear and ambitious industrial vision.”
He added, “After six years we are giving a future to Piaggio Aerospace, which is a strategic asset for our country.”
The purchase gives an Italian presence to Baykar, the Turkish company which has risen to prominence in the UAV market since its TB2 drone was reportedly used to great effect by the Ukrainian military following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
In a post on X, company CEO Haluk Bayraktar wrote, “We will work to preserve the historic identity of Piaggio, boost its productive capacity and support the growth of jobs in Italy, uniting innovation with respect for its roots.”
The choice of a Turkish buyer for an Italian aviation firm, complete with promises to save Italian jobs, is a remarkable turnaround given Italy’s traditional heft in the aviation industry.
The deal reflects Baykar’s soaring success in drone manufacturing as well the failure of a Piaggio unmanned project which prompted the firm’s near-collapse.
Piaggio was taken over in 2014 by Mubadala Development Company, an Abu Dhabi-based strategic investment and development company which was due to build an unmanned version of the P.180 for the UAE.
The UAE however said it would buy the platform on condition Italy bought it first - a condition Italy agreed to.
But when Italy delayed its purchase, the UAE cancelled its planned order, sending the firm into receivership in 2018.
Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.
