MIAMI and HOLLYWOOD, Fla., Jan. 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI.A) (NYSE:HEI) today celebrates its 60^th Anniversary in business.  Founded in Miami, FL as a designer and maker of innovative laboratory equipment on January 4, 1957, the Company has grown to become one of the world’s leading aerospace and defense design, manufacturing, servicing and distribution companies.

At its 1957 founding, the Company’s predecessor was called Heinicke Instruments Co. and the Company held an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 1960.  The Company entered the aircraft parts business through its 1974 merger with South Florida’s Jet Avion Corporation.

In 1990, current management and a reconstituted Board of Directors took control of the Company and sold the laboratory products business.  Since 1990, HEICO has grown from approximately $26 million in revenues and a market capitalization of approximately the same to a current market capitalization approaching $5 billion and sales of nearly $1.4 billion in fiscal 2016.  With nearly 60 production or distribution facilities in 11 countries and 20 states in the United States, HEICO today produces a wide array of mission-critical and high reliability parts and sub-systems utilized on thousands of aircraft, spacecraft and defense platforms worldwide.

Laurans A. Mendelson, HEICO’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, along with the Company’s Co-Presidents, Eric A. Mendelson and Victor H. Mendelson, remarked, “We thank our more than 5,000 Team Members worldwide for getting HEICO to this unique milestone.  We also particularly thank our customers for trusting the HEICO family to supply the critical, high-quality and unique parts HEICO makes.  HEICO is grateful to our suppliers and other partners for helping us accomplish what we do.  We look forward to the next 60 years and beyond doing great things together.” 

HEICO stated that it plans to commemorate its 60 years in business with events and announcements throughout 2017.

HEICO Corporation is engaged primarily in the design, production, servicing and distribution of products and services to certain niche segments of the aviation, defense, space, medical, telecommunications and electronics industries through its Hollywood, Florida-based Flight Support Group and its Miami, Florida-based Electronic Technologies Group.  HEICO's customers include a majority of the world's airlines and overhaul shops, as well as numerous defense and space contractors and military agencies worldwide, in addition to medical, telecommunications and electronics equipment manufacturers.  For more information about HEICO, please visit our website at http://www.heico.com.