AAR to Pay $1.8 Billion for Stake in Aircraft-Maintenance Company -- WSJ

By Mark Maurer

Aviation-services supplier AAR agreed to buy a majority stake in privately held aircraft-maintenance company MRO Holdings for $1.8 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The details

AAR agreed to take a 65% interest in MRO Holdings, which is backed by investors including private-equity firm Bain Capital, the people said. Wood Dale, Ill.-based AAR would have the option to buy the rest of MRO within six years of the deal's closing, they said.

AAR, founded in 1955, has a market value of around $4.7 billion as of Monday. It has businesses focused on aircraft parts as well as maintenance and repairs.

MRO performs aircraft maintenance and modifications at facilities in the U.S., as well as in Mexico, El Salvador and Colombia, where costs can be significantly lower. Roughly 90% of MRO's revenue comes from sales to U.S. customers, largely airlines.

Bain took a minority stake in MRO in 2024, joining founder Roberto Kriete's family and Caoba Capital as co-owners. Bain would retain a stake in MRO and gain a stake in AAR as part of the new deal, which is set to be announced Monday. AAR would issue about $780 million in new AAR stock to MRO's investors, including Bain.

The context

AAR's shares have climbed roughly 30% over the past year, in part due to higher demand for new-parts distribution.

The deal would help AAR build out the latter by expanding its capacity and geographic footprint. AAR expects to reach earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, margins of 19% to 20% within three to four years following the deal, people said. That is up from the 13% to 14% range for AAR's margins now.

Write to Mark Maurer at mark.maurer@wsj.com

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September 28, 2026 16:01 ET (20:01 GMT)