Onex Corporation has completed its purchase of several Boeing commercial airplane manufacturing plants in the United States, the Canadian buyout firm said on Thursday.

Onex said last month it would go ahead with plans for the purchase even though a union at one of the plants rejected a contract offer.

There have since been further reports of labor issues at the sites. Onex's statement made no comment on the status of relations with its unionized workers.

Toronto-based Onex announced in February it would buy Boeing plants in Wichita, Kansas; and Tulsa and McAlester, Oklahoma, estimating the overall value of the transaction at about CAD$1.5 billion (USD$1.21 billion).

It said on Thursday the deal included cash of approximately CAD$1.1 billion (USD$900 million) and the assumption of certain liabilities.

Onex, headed by financier Gerald Schwartz, has taken stakes in a wide variety of industries, typically with a view to improving their results and selling them off again.

The company reiterated on Thursday that it had entered into long-term supply agreements with Boeing, but hopes to boost the value of the plants by winning contracts from other commercial airline, business jet, general aviation, and military firms.