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- Industrial conglomerate General Electric Co (NYSE: NYSE:GE) and defense contractor L3Harris Technologies, Inc (NYSE: LHX) were among those competing to acquire rocket maker Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc (NYSE: AJRD).
- Aircraft producer Textron Inc (NYSE: NYSE:TXT) and private equity firm Veritas Capital also vied to snap El Segundo, California-based Aerojet, which has a market value of about $4 billion, Reuters reported.
- Aerojet ran a process to sell itself after its $4.4 billion sale to Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE: NYSE:LMT) was thwarted by antitrust regulators in February.
- If the negotiations conclude successfully, they could forge a deal by the end of December.
- Aerojet does not see in the line-up of bidders the antitrust issues that led to the demise of its deal with Lockheed because none of the suitors are direct competitors or share much of the same supply chain.
- Aerojet develops and manufactures liquid and solid rocket propulsion and hypersonic engines for space, defense, civil and commercial applications. Its customers include the Pentagon, Boeing Co (NYSE: NYSE:BA), Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon (NYSE:RTN) Technologies Corp (NYSE: RTX).
- Activist hedge fund Elliott Investment Management disclosed it had accumulated a 3.7% stake in Aerojet in August.
- Aerojet prevailed in a battle for control of its board against former Executive Chairman Warren Lichtenstein last summer but remained under pressure to boost its performance.
- Aerojet Rocketdyne declined to comment on the reports that GE or L3harris were among suitors for the company.
- Price Action: AJRD shares closed higher by 4.1% at $52 on Wednesday.
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