Boeing acquires Spirit Aerosystems in all-stock deal

1st Jul 2024 14:44

(Sharecast News) - Boeing announced the acquisition of its former aerostructures manufacturer in a bid to draw a line under quality lapses that had drawn the jetmaker's own long-term viability into question.

The all-stock transaction was announced overnight and valued Spirit AeroSystems's debt and equity at about $8.3bn and Spirit's equity at $4.7bn or $37.25 per share.

"We believe this deal is in the best interest of the flying public, our airline customers, the employees of Spirit and Boeing, our shareholders and the country more broadly," said Boeing chief Dave Calhoun.

"By reintegrating Spirit, we can fully align our commercial production systems, including our Safety and Quality Management Systems, and our workforce to the same priorities, incentives and outcomes - centered on safety and quality."

Included in the transaction were nearly all Boeing-related commercial operations, together with additional commercial, defense and aftermarket operations.

In parallel, Boeing's main rival, European outfit Airbus, inked a binding term sheet by which it would acquire certain commercial work packages that Spirit conducted for Airbus.

Spirit was also to sell certain operations, such as the non-Airbus ones in Northern Ireland, at Prestwick in Scotland and at Subang in Malaysia.

The transaction was expected to close in mid-2025.

As of 1439 BST, shares of Boeing were adding 3.13% to $87.61, while those of Spirit were up by 4.12% to $34.24.