Quest Aircraft has some big changes on the horizon. The Idaho based company announced on January 18th that international business syndicate, Mitsui & Co., LTD, has signed an agreement to invest in their company. The Japanese corporation will acquire an equity stake in Quest, however the headquarters will continue to remain in Sandpoint, Idaho. Quest will still be undergoing some big changes though, with a 75,000 expansion planned that will practically double the size of the manufacturing facility.
This business venture will make Quest Aircraft the only aircraft manufacturer established by a US manufacturer to be acquired by a Japanese company. (Honda Aircraft Company, maker of the FAA certified HondaJet, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese company Honda Motor Company, which founded the company and located its aircraft manufacturing activities in the United States.) Quest Aircraft was founded in order to create an airplane that would be useful in the mission field, and this investment, says Quest, will allow for added global access to different markets around the world.
