Chinese investor buys stake in British aviation pioneer Gilo

A British aerospace company dubbed 'the Disneyland of engineering' is selling a big stake to Chinese investors in a further sign of the demand for UK technology from overseas rivals.

Sky News has learnt that Gilo Industries Group, a Dorset-based manufacturer of rotary engines for unmanned aeronautical vehicles and jet-backpacks, has struck a deal with Kuang-Chi, a conglomerate headquartered in Shenzhen, southern China.

The deal, which is expected to be announced in Asia on Monday, will see Kuang-Chi Science acquiring a substantial minority stake in Gilo, according to insiders.

One source said the commitment to invest in the UK was a vote of confidence in the UK economy amid intense debate about the extent to which it will be impacted by the UK's departure from the European Union.

They added that the deal with Gilo would be the first in a series aimed at investing hundreds of millions of pounds in the UK across technology industries such as robotics, space-tech and telecoms.

It will also represent the latest effort by Chinese companies to tap into British technological expertise in the aerospace and engineering sectors.

Doncasters, which counts the commercial aircraft manufacturer Airbus among its biggest customers, has drawn interest from Chinese suitors, while Sheffield Forgemasters, which makes steel parts for the UK’s nuclear submarine fleet, was the subject of bid interest that saw the Ministry of Defence intervene on national security grounds.

Kuang-Chi is privately owned but has a number of listed subsidiaries, including Hong Kong-quoted KuangChi Science and Zhejiang Longsheng (Shanghai: 600352.SS - news) , which is traded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

The conglomerate's founder, Liu Ruopeng, has been dubbed China's equivalent of Elon Musk, the South African founder of SpaceX and Tesla.

Mr Liu has unveiled plans for a future-technology theme park and space exploration projects, suggesting an alignment of ambition with the first British target for his capital.

Gilo's first business, Parajet, was founded in 2001 by 18-year-old Gilo Cardozo in 2001.

In 2009, he flew from London to Timbuktu on a flying car called a SkyQuad.

The company's eye-catching product range prompted one unnamed military customer to remark on Gilo's website that it resembles a "Disneyland of engineering".

"We jumped into an industry which is incredibly demanding on specification, quality control and a whole host of other things," Mr Cardozo told City AM last year.

"A lot of the companies in this industry have been in it for years and have great track records.

"We promised a lot of great things to clients, and had to ensure we delivered."

Neither Kuang-Chi nor Gilo could be reached for comment, and the terms of their deal were unclear on Sunday.