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November 12, 2024 Deal Watch

Raising cash for growth, Kansas-based Enjet Aero completes $6.3M sale-lease back of Manchester industrial building

COSTAR 41 Progress Drive, Manchester
By Michael Puffer

A Kansas aerospace manufacturer that acquired Manchester-based Spartan Aerospace in 2022 recently sold that company’s 66,000-square-foot industrial building for $6.3 million.

But Enjet Aero is not exiting its Manchester operations.

The privately-owned company has signed a 10-year lease with Eastern Real Estate, the Boston-based realty investment and development firm that bought Enjet’s manufacturing facility at 41 Progress Drive. That lease also allows for two, five-year extensions.

Enjet Chief Financial Officer Christopher Ferraro said the sale provides liquidity that will be invested in facilities to meet growing demand.

“We’re there for the long haul,” Ferraro said. “We love the business and the building. There are just so many opportunities for us to invest in manufacturing and the aerospace industry that the terms we sold it at made a lot of sense for us.”

Enjet has grown by acquiring other manufacturers, but prefers not to keep its capital locked up in real estate. With the Manchester sale, Enjet now owns just one of its nine locations, Ferraro said. 

The company is actively seeking more aerospace manufacturers to buy, he said.

“The business is growing,” Ferraro said. “We are adding equipment and trying to staff up the off-shifts. In the aerospace industry, supply is short and demand is high, so it’s a good time to be a supplier in this space.”

Enjet acquired the 1971-vintage, light manufacturing building on 5.4 acres in Manchester when it bought Spartan Aerospace in 2022. At the time, Enjet paid $4.5 million for the property, according to town assessment records.

Enjet currently operates four Connecticut manufacturing sites in Manchester, Bloomfield, Newington and New Britain. The company employs more than 800, all in the U.S. 

Spartan had around 80 employees when it was acquired. Today, Enjet employs about 115 at the Manchester factory, and is looking to hire several more, Ferraro said. Most Spartan employees have stayed on, including former President Allan Lehrer.

Ferraro said Enjet is seeing increased demand from both the commercial and military markets, which makes it something of an unusual time. Typically, one sector sees rising demand, while the other is lagging, he said.

Airlines are seeking more capacity, but also are pushing for more fuel efficiency, Ferraro said. This helps airlines bolster per-flight profits and meet carbon reduction regulations in the various jurisdictions in which they operate, he noted.

“There’s more demand than there is supply right now,” Ferraro said. “The customers, the airlines, would love to have more capacity right now.” 

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