Quest aircraft to get $10 million investment from Mitsui.

Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui", Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Tatsuo Yasunaga) has agreed with Setouchi Holdings, Inc. ("Setouchi Holdings", Head Office: Hiroshima Prefecture, Chairman: Katsushige Kambara) to acquire a third party share allocation in Quest Aircraft Company, L.L.C. ("Quest"), an American light aircraft company under the umbrella of the Setouchi Holdings group. Within January 2016, Mitsui will acquire a 12.5% equity stake in Quest for an investment of US$10 million.

Quest is a light aircraft manufacturer, which was founded in Sandpoint, Idaho, U.S.A. in 2001 for the purpose of manufacturing aircraft for use in international humanitarian activities. In February 2015 it became part of the Setouchi Holdings group. Quest manufactures and sells the Kodiak 100 10-seater propeller aircraft. First introduced in 2007, the Kodiak 100 has gained a steadily expanding share of the market thanks to its fuel efficiency, power performance and versatility. To date Quest has manufactured over 150 of these aircraft and sold them to buyers throughout the world. It is working to achieve further business expansion by combining the track record that it has built since its founding as an aircraft manufacturer, with the accumulated manufacturing and human resources development know-how of the Setouchi Holdings group.

Light aircraft are used mainly in the agriculture and mining sectors, and as transport for people and supplies in disaster situations. Moreover, as a convenient and readily accessible form of high-speed transportation infrastructure, the light aircraft market is expected to expand not only in Europe and North America, but also in Asian countries, including Japan, because of future rising demand from wealthy people and tourism operators. Setouchi Holdings is responding to these market trends by actively working to create demand through its light aircraft sales and aviation business in Japan and overseas.

Mitsui will with its capital participation in Quest, use its global networks to support the expansion of sales channels for the Kodiak 100 in previously uncultivated markets with the potential for demand growth and work to further enhance Quest's corporate value.

Watch for more details in tomorrow's Daily Bee.