Pratt & Whitney will pay $1.5bn to acquire Rolls-Royce Group’s stake in International Aero Engines (IAE), a producer of engines for Airbus A320 plane family.

Under the agreement, Rolls-Royce will sell its equity and programme shares in IAE to Pratt & Whitney for $1.5bn and offer a portion of the stake to its IAE partners, which include Germany’s MTU Aero Engines (MTU) and Japanese Aero Engines (JAEC).

Rolls-Royce also will receive an undisclosed sum for 15 years for each hour flown by planes now equipped with V2500 engines as it leaves the alliance.

Separately, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce have also signed an agreement to form a new partnership to power future mid-size 120-230-seat passenger aircraft.

Both companies will hold an equal share in the joint venture, which will focus on high bypass ratio geared turbofan technology.

In addition, the venture will collaborate on future studies for next-generation propulsion systems, including advanced geared engines, open rotor technology and other advanced configurations.