A British aerospace and defense company is combining three of its Orange County military units and moving them to the Irvine Spectrum.
Meggitt PLC is taking over a 157,000-square-foot complex that is headquarters to Kia Motors America Inc.
The automaker is moving to a new campus under construction.
Meggitt is consolidating operations in Irvine, Tustin and Fullerton in the move. Work at the three plants, which each have 50,000 square feet or more of space, includes design and production of ammunition system parts, weapons training products and military decoys.
The Meggitt units together posted more than $80 million in revenue last year. They employ about 250 people.
The move to the Irvine Spectrum is expected to be completed in early 2007. It will follow the exit of Kia, which is building a 236,000-square-foot headquarters for its U.S. operations along the Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway in the Jamboree Business Center.
With military upgrades fueling expansion, combining Meggitt businesses will streamline operations, giving it room for growth and raising its profile locally, said Michael Quinn, president of the company’s Irvine office and chief operating officer for the combined companies.
“It’s logistically convenient to make this kind of a co-location,” Quinn said.
For more on this story, see the March 6 edition of the Business Journal.
