AVIC Buys Thielert to Shift German Company to Planes From Drones

Aviation Industry Corp. of China, the country’s biggest aerospace company, agreed to buy Thielert Aircraft Engines GmbH, focusing the insolvent German supplier fully on powering private aircraft and away from U.S. drones.

The Chinese manufacturer’s AVIC International Holding Ltd. unit, which has already acquired Minnesota-based planemaker Cirrus Aircraft and engine producer Continental Motors Inc. of Alabama, is adding Thielert’s civil engine business to prepare for a domestic boom in private aviation, Bruno Kuebler, Thielert’s insolvency administrator, said on a call with journalists.