Textron announced it has closed its acquisition of Beech Holdings, the parent of Beechcraft, and that it will bring together its Cessna business and Beechcraft to form a new segment called Textron Aviation.

Under the terms of the transaction, Textron purchased all outstanding equity interests in Beech Holdings for approximately $1.4 billion in cash. Textron financed the purchase of the equity as well as the repayment of Beechcraft’s working capital debt through a combination of available cash, the issuance of $600 million in senior notes and drawing $500 million under a new five-year term loan agreement with a lender group led by JPMorgan Chase as administrative agent and Citibank and Bank of America as syndication agents.

Cessna and Beechcraft together produced about $4.6 billion in revenues during 2013. Textron said Cessna, Beechcraft and Hawker will each remain distinct brands to preserve their rich histories and respective strengths in the marketplace.

Textron said the acquisition brings together three iconic brands, each pioneering many of general aviation’s most notable advances in the past century. Cessna, Beechcraft and Hawker bring 200-plus years of combined aviation experience to the market and an installed customer base of more than 250,000 airplanes worldwide.

Going forward, Textron Aviation intends to share and leverage best practices across all operations to further its position as an aviation authority. Scott Ernest, who has served as Cessna’s president and CEO since 2011, will lead the Textron Aviation segment as CEO.

Textron Aviation brings together a unique combination of businesses with class-leading, complementary general aviation products including Citation and Hawker business jets, King Air twin-engine turboprops, Caravan single-engine utility turboprops and a great line up of piston-engine aircraft representing the Cessna and Beechcraft brands. Customers will also benefit from the industry’s largest global service network featuring company-owned, authorized and mobile service solutions. In addition, Textron Aviation will be home to the Beechcraft T-6 trainer and AT-6 light attack aircraft.