Aircraft manufacturer Bombardier's Northern Ireland operations have been sold to US firm Spirit AeroSystems.
Bombardier said today it had agreed to sell its aerostructures business, which includes the Belfast plant, to Spirit for more than $700m in cash and debt.
As well as the Belfast plant, Bombardier will sell its aerostructures plant in Morocco and a smaller repair plant in Dallas to Spirit.
The sale comes as the Canadian company sheds its commercial aviation business to focus on its higher-margin business jets and rail divisions.
"This transaction represents another strategic milestone in the reshaping of our portfolio to focus on our strong business aircraft and rail franchises," Bombardier's chief executive Alain Bellemare said in a statement.
Analysts have previously said a deal would be strategic for Spirit, an aerospace components maker, as it diversifies its customer base away from Boeing.
Spirit is Boeing's largest supplier, but the company has plans to grow its business with Europe's Airbus.
The Belfast plant, which produces wings for Airbus's A220 jet, is the largest high-tech manufacturer in Northern Ireland with a workforce of around 3,500.
The A220 programmme is growing with Airbus recording a backlog of 435 of the 110 to 130 seat jets as of September 30.
Bombardier today also reported a lower quarterly profit as it spent more on stepping up production of its Global 7500 business jets.
