(Reuters) - NetJets, a private jet-sharing company owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc , said on Monday it would buy up to 425 new business jets from Bombardier Inc and Cessna in a deal worth $9.6 billion to expand its North American and European fleet.
The purchase, which NetJets described as the largest in private aviation history, includes up to 275 Bombardier Challenger business aircraft, the second time in 15 months that NetJets has placed a large order with the Canadian planemaker.
The Bombardier portion of the order, which is valued at $7.3 billion, is made up of 100 firm orders and options for 175 more, NetJets said.
"This is a very sizable order," said PI Financial analyst Chris Murray.
"Bombardier's aerospace group usually does about $10 billion a year. This will be several years worth of business," he said.
NetJets also said in a statement that it placed an order for 150 Cessna Citation Latitudes aircraft, including 25 firm orders and options for 125 more. Deliveries begin in 2016.
Cessna Aircraft Co, the world's largest maker of business jets, is a subsidiary of Textron Inc
NetJets said the addition of the new aircraft, along with recently-ordered Embraer Phenoms and Bombardier Globals, marks the launch of a new NetJets "Signature Series" of aircraft -- planes that it helped design from start to finish.
Last March, Bombardier said it would sell as many as 120 large business jets from its Global series to NetJets in a deal it said at the time could be worth more than $6.7 billion.
(Reporting By Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Editing by Bernard Orr)
