Planemaker Embraer SA and a unit of Italy's Finmeccanica SpA said on Monday they plan to form a joint venture within months to produce helicopters in Brazil for military and commercial use.Preliminary studies by AgustaWestland and Embraer show a promising market for midsize twin engine helicopters to service a growing number of remote oil rigs off the Brazilian coast. Brazil's growing defense budget and private demand in traffic-choked cities also present opportunities, they said in a filing.Shares of Embraer were little changed in Sao Paulo, rising 0.1 percent while the benchmark Bovespa stock index lost 0.1 percent. Finmeccanica shares fell 1.1 percent, paring earlier losses after ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut its debt rating to junk on Friday.For Embraer the announcement marks another departure from its traditional business of regional and executive jets, where demand has stagnated in recent years. Its fast-growing defense division could make up a quarter of total revenue by 2020, up from less than 5 percent in 2006.
Embraer SA, formerly Embraer - Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA, is a Brazil-based holding company primarily engaged in the manufacture of aircrafts. Shares of ERJ traded higher by 0.4% or $0.11/share to $27.73. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $22.57 and as high as $35.55. On average, 915967 shares of ERJ exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 731772.
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