HEICO Acquires 80% Stake in Sherwood Avionics, Expanding Defense MRO Capabilities

HEICO Corporation's Flight Support Group acquired an 80% stake in Sherwood Avionics and Accessories, adding a dual-certified repair station capable of overhauling components on some of the U.S. military's most widely deployed platforms, including the C-130, F-15, F-16, CH-47, and UH-60.

Sherwood, based near Miami's Opa-locka Airport, operates roughly 70,000 square feet of facility space with a workforce of approximately 150 employees. The shop holds both FAA and EASA Part 145 certifications, a regulatory pairing that allows HEICO to perform critical maintenance work for domestic and international customers under a single roof. The scope of approved repair work spans auxiliary power units, landing gear, wheels and brakes, pneumatics, hydraulics, fuel systems, lighting, and avionics components — a breadth that makes the facility particularly valuable for military sustainment contracts where multiple aircraft systems may require simultaneous attention.

The acquisition addresses a concrete operational challenge in defense MRO: aircraft-on-ground time. When a critical component fails on a C-130 or UH-60 and a certified repair station is not already in the supply chain, lead times for overhauled spares can stretch the maintenance cycle significantly. Owning that repair capacity in-house allows HEICO's Flight Support Group to reduce turnaround friction and, over time, establish itself as a preferred single-source provider for defense operators managing aging fleets under sustained operational pressure.

Bryan Farrell will continue leading Sherwood's day-to-day operations. The remaining 20% of the company stays with Sherwood's existing leadership, a structure HEICO used to signal continuity to customers who have long-standing relationships with the shop's management team. That arrangement is common in HEICO's acquisition playbook, which has historically prioritized preserving technical expertise and customer trust during integration.

HEICO said the deal is expected to be accretive to earnings in the first full year following closing, indicating management's confidence in Sherwood's near-term revenue contribution. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The Sherwood acquisition fits a longer arc of consolidation in the aerospace MRO sector, where fleet expansions, supply chain disruptions, and increasingly complex avionics are pressuring independent shops to either scale or find a larger partner. For HEICO, which has built its business through the targeted absorption of niche technical providers, Sherwood represents both a capability expansion and a geographic anchor in South Florida, a hub with significant military aviation traffic. The question going forward is whether HEICO invests in additional tooling or digital maintenance infrastructure at the Opa-locka site to increase throughput, particularly as demand from allied defense fleets continues to grow alongside global military spending.