B/E Aerospace Inc. (BEAV), the maker of seats for commercial and business jets, hired financial and legal advisers to study its options, including a sale, and canceled an investor meeting set for today.

Citigroup Inc. (C) and Shearman & Sterling LLP will assess alternatives, also including a sale or spinoff of some businesses, said B/E, which has a market value of about $9.4 billion. No decision has been made and the boards explorations may end with no deal, the Wellington, Florida-based company said yesterday in a statement.

This is a U-turn from April 23, when Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Amin Khoury said B/E signed important letters of intent to acquire two additional synergistic manufacturing businesses, without identifying the targets. Khoury also said on that call that first-quarter results were the best in the companys 27-year history.

Its unclear what changed since the April 23 conference call, said Howard Rubel, an analyst at Jefferies LLC who recommends buying the shares. They seem to have gone in another direction; from the idea of buying to selling or finding another option to create value.

B/E is an attractive company, which has grown the business much faster than the market, said Rubel, who declined to speculate on who could be the potential buyers.

A spokesman didnt respond to a call and e-mail sent yesterday, outside of regular business hours.

Besides aircraft seats, B/E makes cooking equipment and security devices. Boeing Co. is its largest customer, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. B/Es net income for the period jumped 21 percent to $109 million from the year-earlier quarter, while revenue rose 20 percent to $1.01 billion.

``Interiors are big and profitable these days, both for record new build numbers, extensive retrofits and a focus on premium passengers,'' said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at Fairfax, Virginia-based aerospace consultant Teal Group.

In the past five years, B/E has spent $1.6 billion in eight acquisitions, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

B/E stock rose less than 1 percent to $88.96 on May 2. The shares 40 percent gain in the past 12 months has topped the 37 percent advance for the Standard and Poors Supercomposite Aerospace & Defense Index.

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B/E Aerospace Hires Advisers to Study Options Including Sale