Vought to Sell Hawthorne Property.

DALLAS -- Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. announced today that it has signed a contract to sell its property in Hawthorne, Calif., to MS Kearny Northrop Avenue, LLC. The transaction is expected to close in July.

Vought is consolidating operations at the site located south of Hawthorne Municipal Airport, reducing its manufacturing footprint approximately 66 percent. Once the consolidation has been completed later this year, the company will occupy approximately 1.38 million square feet of the 2.68 million-square-foot site. Vought will continue to occupy this space under a lease agreement with the Buyer through 2010, with options through 2020.

"This sales transaction is part of our ongoing consolidation efforts," said Vought's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Risley. "The reduction of our facilities footprint enables us to reduce our overhead costs and compete more effectively in the global marketplace."

MS Kearny Northrop Avenue, LLC, is a partnership of Kearny Real Estate Company and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund IV, along with principals of Wedgewood and Howard CDM.

Vought manufactures Boeing 747 fuselages and 767 aft body panels at its Hawthorne site, employing approximately 530 people. The site has produced the Boeing 747 fuselage since the program began in 1968. The fuselage, measuring 154 feet, is the largest single subcontracted section of the aircraft.

Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. (www.voughtaircraft.com) is one of the world's largest independent suppliers of aerostructures. Headquartered in Dallas, the company designs and manufactures major airframe structures such as wings, fuselage subassemblies, empennages, nacelles and other components for prime manufacturers of aircraft. Vought has annual sales exceeding $1.3 billion and more than 6,000 employees in seven U.S. locations.