A fog of uncertainty may shroud the future trajectory of Berwyn-based global aerospace supplier Triumph Group, but significant changes are already barreling down the runway for takeoff after CEO Jeffry D. Frisby’s departure earlier this month. Triumph shares jumped more than 8 percent after the announcement.

“Change has already come to Triumph. And it likely won’t stop at the CEO’s office,” The Deal Pipeline Senior Writer Lou Whiteman speculated in a recent column.

“… The next CEO figures to be more focused on execution and restructuring the sprawling manufacturer than adding more assets, but investors should not expect a dramatic change in direction at Triumph. Interim successor and Co-Founder Richard C. Ill, after all, has been closely involved with the company during Frisby’s tenure, serving as non-executive chairman.”

The company’s most promising one-fourth of revenues is far more risky and less lucrative than its declining one-fourth of revenues, and its wingspan reaches 45 divisions and five dozen facilities, making it a behemoth more suitable for an overhaul by an outside buyer than an internal effort, Whiteman argues.

“Large buyers like United Technologies Inc. and more recently Alcoa Inc. have shown an interest in consolidating the supply chain in hopes of gaining greater leverage against OEM price squeezes,” he said in the article. “An acquirer of that size would have the financial wherewithal to better cope with new airplane platform development costs and initial ramp-ups.”

Read much more about the challenges facing Triumph and the options investors see for it in the near future in The Deal Pipeline here.

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