The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that Boeing agreed on Sunday to acquire Spirit AeroSystems Holdings for more than $4-billion, ending months of talks over a deal the U.S. plane maker hopes will help ease a spiralling safety crisis (all figures U.S.). A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says Boeing will pay $37.25 a share for Spirit Aero, in an all-stock deal. The boards of Boeing and Spirit met on Sunday and agreed to terms, and an official announcement is likely early today. The acquisition values Spirit at around $4.7-billion. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, would result in the breakup of Spirit, with some of the Kansas-based supplier's assets going to Anglo-European plane maker Airbus. Boeing is trying to move past a year of difficulties sparked by a Jan. 5 mid-air blowout of a door plug on a new 737 Max 9 jet that exposed myriad safety and quality problems. Those issues have led to a substantial slowdown in output at Boeing. Spirit, which made the door plug, was spun off from Boeing in 2005 in one of a series of moves that critics say were emblematic of a focus on cost-cutting over quality. Boeing made the decision to buy back Spirit in the aftermath of the Jan. 5 incident.
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