Latest news with #Jamco
Japan Times
05-08-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Bain's Japanese plane seat-maker sees U.S. hub as shelter from Trump tariffs
A newly acquired Bain Capital company in Japan that makes airplane seats, toilets and galleys is betting its U.S.-based manufacturing hub will give it an advantage under President Donald Trump's tariff regime. Armed with private equity cash, Jamco's new management is rebooting its aircraft seat business, chasing market share from rivals RTX's Collins Aerospace and France's Safran, Executive Chair Kate Schaefer said in an interview. Supply chain issues that have seen wait times for cabin fittings blow out to as long as three years — forcing the likes of Delta Air Lines and American Airlines to ground newly delivered jets as they await seats — also present an opportunity to fill, Schaefer said. "Right now with everything that's going on with tariffs, it appears to be an advantage in manufacturing and assembling these seats in the U.S.,' she said. The company is also promising to deliver products in as little as six months. Jamco's main production line is located near Boeing's largest assembly line in Everett, just outside Seattle. The U.S. has rolled out a raft of tariffs on global trading partners, with Japanese and European Union goods being levied at 15%, and up to 25% for India and 39% for Switzerland. Across the industry, carriers from Singapore Airlines to British Airways are spending hundreds of millions of dollars revamping seats as they upgrade cabins to lure more high-end travelers. Jamco plans to focus on higher-margin first-class and business seats, which can cost from $80,000 to $160,000 each depending on materials used and the level of customization required. Jamco's seat-making business struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic as global travel bans and border closures hammered the aviation industry. It paused research and development during the pandemic, but is restarting that under new management. Schaefer said the business has a slim order book but a factory and a workforce ready to go. Previously, Jamco counted the likes of Singapore Airlines and Dutch carrier KLM as top customers for its seats. Its other business units continue to make components and equipment such as galleys for Boeing and Airbus jets. Jamco was bought by Bain in a $700 million buyout earlier this year. Like Virgin Australia Holdings, which delivered Bain a 3.5 times' return on its initial investment when it listed the airline in June, the private equity firm says it aims to pursue an initial public offering of Jamco in a five-year time frame. Bain is also actively looking for smaller complementary acquisitions to expand on Jamco's current line of work. Bain's Tokyo-based leadership who led the deal, Masa Suekane and Nick Gattas, sees Jamco as a "bet on the industry,' bolstered by the decadelong waiting list for new planes. Jamco aims to take advantage of the challenging ramp-up in wide-body production by Boeing and Airbus as an "attractive' five-year window to win new business.
CNA
05-08-2025
- Business
- CNA
Bain-owned Japanese plane cabin supplier Jamco targets premium seats, acquisitions
SEOUL :Japanese aircraft interiors manufacturer Jamco Corporation is seeking to cash in on a global shortage of new plane seats by reentering the business class seat market under its new owner, Bain Capital, company executives said. Jamco, which the U.S. private equity firm bought for $700 million this year, also plans to pursue acquisitions globally, chasing premium cabin products for the Airbus and Boeing wide-body airliners the firm supplies. Aerospace suppliers like Jamco, which mostly makes galley areas and lavatories for twin-aisle planes, have faced parts and labour shortages and cost difficulties as commercial aviation emerged from the pandemic. "We see that innovation today happening from small companies," Nick Gattas, a managing director in Bain's Asia Pacific private equity team, told Reuters. Bain also sees the potential for integrating Japanese suppliers further down the supply chain into Jamco, Gattas added. Jamco was delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange in July and Bain's deal to acquire the firm is expected to fully close in September. Jamco's major shareholders had included ANA Holdings and Itochu. It also announced a new leadership team on Tuesday, led by Executive Chair Kate Schaefer, currently a senior adviser to Bain Capital and formerly senior vice president at Boeing Global Services. Jamco's interest in premium seats comes as planemakers are struggling to make airliners fast enough to meet demand. Delays in installing new seats are a key bottleneck, which has left many airlines waiting impatiently for new jets. Jamco in 2023 stopped taking new orders for business class seats due to intense demand for other products, but Bain wants the firm to start selling them again. "The interest from the airlines has been pretty overwhelming," Schaefer said. Bain also sees opportunity in airlines' growing need to re-fit ageing planes that they cannot retire due to a global shortage of new jets. "We see billions of dollars being spent on first class, business class and premium economy retrofits of planes that are 10 years old or more. That's a huge opportunity for a company like Jamco," Gattas said. Aerospace has been caught up in the global trade war, upending decades of largely duty-free trading in civil aircraft. The United States and Japan last month agreed a trade deal that put a 15 per cent tariff on exports from Japan to the United States. Jamco products that go to Boeing would be subjected to a tariff, Gattas said. However, as many Boeing aircraft are then exported they can benefit from duty drawbacks – a mechanism whereby duties paid on imported goods can be refunded if those goods are subsequently exported. For the remaining exposure to U.S. airlines, the question of who should pay for the hit from tariffs "is a topic of active discussion" among Boeing suppliers today, Gattas said. Bain has a number of aviation investments, including Virgin Australia which returned to the Australian Securities Exchange in June after the private equity firm rescued it from administration in 2020.
Wall Street Journal
07-05-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Bain Capital Aims to Position Japanese Aviation Firm Jamco for More M&A
The U.S. private-investment firm has launched a tender offer for Jamco shares. Photo: kim kyung hoon/Reuters Bain Capital has a plan for Japanese aircraft parts maker Jamco 7408 -0.06%decrease; red down pointing triangle . It wants to arm the company with the financial means to snap up its peers, turning it from target to acquirer as the industry consolidates. 'Jamco can lead the industry consolidation, out of Japan, rather than succumb to it,' Masashi Suekane, a Tokyo-based partner at the U.S. private-equity firm, said in an interview.
