Listed:TSX Symbol:NAS

CHICAGO , May 14, 2012 /CNW/ - Northstar Aerospace, Inc. (NAS.TO) (the "Corporation") announced today that the forbearance agreement entered into with the syndicate of lenders under the Corporation's existing credit facility has been extended. Under the forbearance agreement, as extended, the lenders have agreed to forbear from the exercise of their rights under the credit facility through June 4 , 2012.

The Corporation is continuing its process of exploring and evaluating strategic alternatives for the Corporation. No assurances can be given that any proposal will result in a transaction or that any such transaction will result in value for all of the various stakeholders of the Corporation after the repayment of secured debt. As previously disclosed in the notes to the Corporation's interim financial statements as of September 30, 2011 , significant doubt remains regarding the Corporation's ability to continue as a going concern.

Northstar Aerospace, Inc. (www.nsaero.com) is North America's leading independent manufacturer of flight critical gears and transmissions. Northstar Aerospace is a public company (NAS.TO) with operating subsidiaries in the United States and Canada. Its principal products include helicopter gears and transmissions, accessory gearbox assemblies, rotorcraft drive systems and other machined and fabricated parts. It also provides maintenance, repair and overhaul of components and transmissions. The Company's executive offices are located in Chicago , Illinois. Its plants are located in Chicago , Illinois; Phoenix , Arizona; Milton and Windsor, Ontario, Canada .

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included in this press release, including the statements in the press release relating to the forbearance agreements, the statements relating to the process of exploring and evaluating strategic alternatives for the Corporation, the statements relating to value for the various stakeholders and the statements relating to the Corporation's financial position and ability to continue as a going concern may be or include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information contained herein is based upon a number of assumptions and actual future events may differ materially depending on a variety of factors, including the Corporation's ability to cure or resolve claimed breach of obligations under customer contracts, its ability to successfully amend its credit agreement, its ability to successfully extend the terms of the forbearance agreements or for the process of exploring strategic alternatives to result in any specific transaction which provides value to existing stakeholders. Other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Corporation's expectations (together with the cautionary statements in the previous sentence, "Cautionary Statements") are included in the Corporation's Consolidated Financial Statements for the Years Ended December 31, 2010 and 2009 - Management's Discussion and Analysis - Risks and Uncertainties, the Corporation's Annual Information Form filed on March 25, 2011 , under the heading of Risks and Uncertainties, the Corporation's Consolidated Interim Financial Statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011 , and 2010 under the heading Basis Of Preparation And Adoption Of IFRS - Going Concern and in the related Management's Discussion and Analysis under the heading Risks and Uncertainties and the heading Going Concern. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. All information contained in this press release and subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Corporation or persons acting on behalf of the Corporation are expressly qualified in their entirety by the Cautionary Statements. The Corporation disclaims any intentions or obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements or comments as a result of any new information, future event or otherwise, unless such disclosure is required by law.

Read more here:

Northstar Aerospace announces extension of forbearance agreement

DENVER, May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Platte River Ventures ("Platte River"), a Denver, CO based private equity firm, announced the sale of its portfolio company, PRV Aerospace, LLC ("PRV Aerospace"), to an affiliate of Court Square Capital Partners ("Court Square"), a private equity firm headquartered in New York, NY.

Headquartered in Everett, WA, PRV Aerospace is an aerospace and defense group that supplies components, subassemblies and assemblies to the world's leading manufacturers of aircraft, aero-equipment and other defense platforms. Comprised of six operating facilities, PRV Aerospace performs complex machining of hard metals and aluminum, sheet metal fabrication, assembly and test, repair and overhaul, and lower tier supply chain management. Platte River formed PRV Aerospace in January 2010 by consolidating the four aerospace operating companies it had acquired between 2006 and 2008, and PRV Aerospace subsequently completed two strategic add-on acquisitions in 2010 and 2011.

"We are proud of the business that Platte River and PRV Aerospace management have built over the past six years, which is the result of our vision to develop a leading aerospace and defense supplier," said Platte River Managing Director Greg Sissel. "Richard Wood and his team have built a strong foundation from which the business can continue to grow into an even more strategic supplier to the leading OEMs and Tier-1s."

"We have had an exceptional relationship with Platte River, and my team and I have valued their strategic insight and guidance over the past several years," said Richard Wood, CEO of PRV Aerospace. "We are pleased that this sale will deliver attractive returns for Platte River's investors and wish them continued success. We now look to build on the strong base we created in close partnership, this time with Court Square."

Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP served as legal counsel to Platte River, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch served as the exclusive financial advisor to PRV Aerospace.

About Platte River Ventures

Based in Denver, CO, Platte River Ventures is a private equity firm focused on investments in lower middle market operating companies with enterprise values generally between $20 million and $250 million, as well as strategic add-on investments. The firm focuses on investing in aerospace & transportation, industrial & energy services and chemicals, metals & minerals. Platte River Ventures currently manages funds with committed capital in excess of $300 million. For more information, please visit http://www.platteriverventures.com.

About Court Square Capital Partners

Court Square is one of the most experienced teams in the private equity industry. Since 1979, the team has made over 200 investments including several landmark transactions and has developed numerous businesses into leaders in their respective markets. Based in New York, Court Square invests in companies that have compelling growth potential. The Firm manages over $3.5 billion in aggregate capital commitments while focusing on the following four sectors: business services, general industrial, healthcare and technology/telecommunications. For more information, please refer to the Court Square website at http://www.courtsquare.com.

About PRV Aerospace

More:

Platte River Ventures Announces Sale of PRV Aerospace, LLC

THORNTON, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTI - News), a developer of flexible CIGS solar panels, has been named a development partner for Bye Aerospace Inc.s innovative aircraft programs for the aerospace and defense markets.

George Bye, Chairman and CEO of Bye Aerospace, said solar energy is a key component to several of Bye Aerospaces programs. One concept currently in development, the Silent Guardian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), relies on thin film solar photovoltaics (PV), stored electric power and other technologies to enhance its potential for long endurance, quiet operations and low emissions, he said. With Ascent Solar as a development partner, our development time should improve drastically.

Victor Lee, President and CEO of Ascent Solar Technologies, said, We are pleased to partner with Bye Aerospace and look forward to furthering their development efforts with our lightweight, durable, flexible thin-film solar modules. Ascent Solars transformational technology enables renewable power generation in aircraft applications while adding minimal weight to the vehicle. We are excited to apply our technology in collaboration with Bye Aerospace to develop a new generation of UAVs.

AboutAscent Solar Technologies, Inc.

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. is a developer of thin-film photovoltaic modules using flexible substrate materials that can transform the way solar power generation integrates into everyday life. Ascent Solar modules, which were named one of TIME Magazines 50 best inventions for 2011, can be directly incorporated into standard building materials, commercial transportation, automotive solutions, space applications, consumer electronics for portable power and durable off-grid solutions. For more information, go to http://www.AscentSolar.com.

AboutBye Aerospace

Bye Aerospace, founded in 2007 and headquartered near Denver, is applying clean energy solutions to innovative aircraft designs for the aerospace and defense markets. For more information, go towww.ByeAerospace.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not statements of historical or current fact constitute "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unknown factors that could cause the Company's actual operating results to be materially different from any historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition to statements that explicitly describe these risks and uncertainties, readers are urged to consider statements that contain terms such as "believes," "belief," "expects," "expect," "intends," "intend," "anticipate," "anticipates," "plans," "plan," to be uncertain and forward-looking. The forward-looking statements contained herein are also subject generally to other risks and uncertainties that are described from time to time in the Company's filings with theSecurities and Exchange Commission.

Go here to read the rest:

Ascent Solar Named Bye Aerospace Development Partner

The U.S. is the worlds largest aerospace and defense market, and also home to the worlds largest military budget. The growth of the Aerospace and Defense industry depends largely on the spending outlook of government departments, with the U.S. defense budget being the primary driver. The industry largely depends on U.S. government contracts.

Given the uncertain macroeconomic environment, not just in the U.S. but also globally, the industry faces the risk of fewer new orders as customers are more likely to postpone or cancel contractual orders and/or payments.

Defense spending is the major source of revenue for the top nine global aerospace and defense companies, with the US accounting for more than 40% of total global defense spending. However, with the U.S. government expected to institute greater austerity in its defense budget going forward, defense companies will need to source more orders from global clients. The geostrategic significance of the industry and the related heavy export restrictions will come in the way, to some extent, of those marketing efforts by U.S.-based operators.

The U.S. defense budget for 2012 was $645.7 billion, with the base budget at $530.6 billion and $115.1 billion approved for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) as supplementary defense spending, mainly to fund ongoing wars.

In February this year, the Department of Defense (DoD) requested a Pentagon base budget of $525.4 billion for 2013, which is approximately $5.1 billion or 1% less than what is approved for fiscal 2012, with $88.5 billion earmarked for OCO spending. The significant reduction in OCO funding is mainly due to the decline of U.S. military operations in Iraq in 2011. Going forward, OCO funding is expected to continue to decline as troops redeploy out of Afghanistan.

Since the September 2001 attacks, the U.S. government has spent significant amounts on military campaigns overseas. The country has already decided to gradually move out of Afghanistan, and the war in Iraq has finally ended, which is expected to lower its expenditure on foreign campaigns. However, its clandestine military operations in other nations as part of anti-terrorism operations will continue to add to foreign war expenses. However, the overall trend in overseas military spending is unmistakably on the downtrend.

OPPORTUNITIES

Acquisition, Merger and Strategic Alliance

The big defense operators armed with a strong balance sheets are expanding their operations inorganically through acquisitions. The U.S. Defense department also endorses mergers among U.S. defense companies, provided they dont involve the top five or six suppliers acquiring each other.

Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) bolstered its product portfolio by acquiring Procerus Technologies, a company specializing in autopilot and other avionics for micro unmanned aerial systems. In November 2011, it had acquired Sim-Industries B.V., a commercial aviation simulation company located in the Netherlands. This acquisition would expand both companies closely related markets and expand the customer base.

Here is the original post:

Aerospace & Defense Stock Overview - May 2012