The acquisition of the Italian aviation giant with over a century of history, Piaggio Aerospace, by Turkish drone maker Baykar garnered significant attention and coverage, particularly by media in Italy and Türkiye.
Some of the leading newspapers in Italy have called it “a turning point” for the strategic Italian company that was placed under state administration in 2018.
Italy’s government approved the acquisition on Friday without providing financial details.
In a statement, Italy’s Industry Ministry said Baykar’s offer for the company had been preferred over two other final and binding bids from international players.
It was deemed the “most suited to guarantee the interests of workers and creditors (of Piaggio Aerospace) and relaunch the group’s industrial prospects,” it said.
Providing a detailed report on the deal, Italy’s La Repubblica said it was “a historic turning point for a strategic and high-tech Italian company whose survival in recent years has always been very troubled.”
Founded in 1884, the company headquartered in Savona in Italy’s northern region of Liguria is best known for producing the P.180 Avanti business jets, also known as the Ferrari of the skies, and aircraft engines.
“The awarding of Piaggio Aero to the Turkish Baykar Group could represent a new positive perspective for this important reality in the Italian aerospace sector, interrupting years of uncertainty,” said Guglielmo Gambardella, the national secretary of Uilm, Italian Union of Metalworkers.
“Baykar is certainly a big group and we expect it to be able to offer significant opportunities for the two sites in Liguria where Piaggio Aerospace operates,” Italian trade unionist Stefano Bonazzi told La Repubblica.
On the other hand, Corriere della Sera, one of Italy’s most famous newspapers, also reported extensively on the purchase.
Touching upon the journey of Baykar, its establishment and export figures, the paper said, “Baykar is in excellent health,” as it cited calculations by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), recalling that in 2023, the group increased its revenues by 25%, reaching almost $2 billion, with about 90% of this coming from exports.
“Baykar’s decision to invest in Italy, therefore, has great industrial value and an undeniable geopolitical weight. It remains to be seen what programs the company will want to develop in the country with the plants and employees of Piaggio Aerospace,” the paper also said.
Domestic analysts and experts also saw the acquisition in a positive light.
Piaggio is a well-established company with a certain level of aircraft manufacturing capabilities and advanced engine technology, commented Erdoğan Karakuş, a retired lieutenant general.
“One of the issues we face is engine production. In this respect, this is a remarkable development,” Karakuş told the daily Hürriyet on Sunday.
Shortly after the announcement of the purchase, Haluk Bayraktar, the company’s CEO, highlighted it as “a strategic step.”
“As Baykar, we are carrying the power of the Turkish aviation industry to Europe by incorporating Piaggio Aerospace, which has a deep-rooted heritage of 140 years. With this strategic step, we are taking on the responsibility of carrying a historical brand into the future while strengthening our production capacity,” he wrote in a post on X.
Baykar has become the face of Türkiye’s defense and aerospace sector and is one of the most prolific drone exporters worldwide.
The company is the nation’s top defense exporter, having constituted nearly one-third of the sector’s record $5.5 billion worth of sales last year.
