Exclusive-Embraer taps Oliver Wyman to help in US defense market, eyeing C-390 sales By Reuters

By Gabriel Araujo

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Embraer has hired consulting firm Oliver Wyman to help it explore the U.S. defense market, the head of the Brazilian planemaker’s defense unit said, as it plans to sell its military cargo aircraft C- 390 the number 1 economy in the world. .

Expanding its presence abroad with more sales of the C-390 – a competitor of Lockheed Martin (NYSE: ) C-130 Hercules – was a key focus of Embraer’s defense division, which had already designated the United States as a key market in the sector.

Embraer started the project with Oliver Wyman about a month ago and is “fully committed” to building a strategy to penetrate the US market with its defense portfolio, the company’s defense chief Bosco da Costa told Reuters Jr.

“We looked at several consulting firms as part of a careful selection process, assessing their defense capability, and we came to the conclusion that Oliver Wyman is the company that will help us,” Costa said in an interview Thursday.

Oliver Wyman is owned by Marsh & McLennan.

Exploring M&A could be a way for Embraer to tap into the US market, the executive pointed out.

“We studied this and Oliver Wyman showed us that one of the ways that several industries have found to enter the US has been through mergers and acquisitions. So this is one of the possibilities. Embraer will evaluate it,” he Costa said.

Embraer Defense already has a footprint in the US, which for example flies the Super Tucano light attack aircraft. The company has a turboprop production line in Jacksonville, Florida. But by ending sales of the C-390, it would be a game-changer.

Speaking at an event earlier Thursday, Costa said he sees room for the US to have a mixed fleet of larger strategic tanks and smaller tactical tanks, such as the C-390, which has already been bought by some NATO countries.

In addition to Embraer’s home country of Brazil, nations such as the Netherlands, Portugal, Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic and South Korea have used the aircraft for their fleets.

“Any defense player in the world cannot be out of this market,” Costa said of the U.S., noting that the C-390 has enough American content to meet local requirements. “It’s a strategic project that the company’s board is pursuing.”