By Dan McCue

CHARLESTON -- Hawthorne Corp. of Charleston, and The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest private equity firms, sold two of their jointly-held aviation subsidiaries to Dubai Aerospace Enterprise for $1.9 billion.

Under the deal, which closed on July 31, DAE will take ownership of Landmark Aviation, a leader in the corporate jet services industry, and Standard Aero, which provides jet engine services and support to the commercial aviation industry.

DAE described the acquisition of the two companies as the cornerstones of Dubai’s effort to create an integrated aerospace cluster at Dubai World Central, a new 87-square-mile airport and logistics city being built in Jebel Ali, Dubai.

T. Dean Harton, president of the Hawthorne Corp., described the deal as a satisfying culmination of the growth of the 75-year-old company and likened the completion of the deal to a cornerstone for more targeted, regional investments in small- and medium-size businesses.

“Hawthorne has grown and evolved over the years, with aviation always being at our core, but interests extending into everything from real estate development to investment banking,” he said.

“Proceeds from this sale not only will allow us to do more regional investments in small businesses, but will also enable us to offer our business knowledge and business know-how to more of these entities.”

Landmark Aviation was an outgrowth of Hawthorne Aviation, which was founded in Charleston in 1932. In the 1960s, as a result of its success in aeronautics, the company began expanding into other areas, buying a Ford dealership, a real estate development company and other businesses.

In 1998, Hawthorne partnered with The Carlyle Group to acquire Piedmont aviation. The resulting company, Piedmont Hawthorne Holdings Inc., continued to acquire other entities in the corporate aviation arena, including Garrett Aviation Services, which it bought from General Electric in 2004.