General Electric, L3Harris among suitors vying for Aerojet -sources

Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings

30/11/2022 16:49

By Mike Stone and David  Carnevali
       Nov 30 (Reuters) - Industrial conglomerate General
Electric Co  GE.N  and defense contractor L3Harris Technologies
Inc  LHX.N  are among those competing to acquire rocket maker
Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc  AJRD.N , according to people
familiar with the matter.
    Aircraft producer Textron Inc  TXT.N  and private equity
firm Veritas Capital are also vying to acquire El Segundo,
California-based Aerojet, which has a market value of about $4
billion, the sources said.  
    Aerojet has been running a process to sell itself after its
$4.4 billion sale to Lockheed Martin Corp  LMT.N  was thwarted
by antitrust regulators in February, Reuters has previously
reported. If the negotiations conclude successfully, a deal
could be inked by the end of December, the sources added,
cautioning that no agreement was certain. 
    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, one of the sources said.
    The sources requested anonymity because the matter is
confidential. 
    "We regularly assess multiple options as we pursue
game-changing solutions for our customers," an L3 Harris
spokesperson said, declining to comment specifically on the
company's pursuit of Aerojet. Spokespeople for Aerojet, General
Electric, Textron and Veritas Capital did not respond to
requests for comment.
    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  BA.N , Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies Corp
 RTX.N .
    The company prevailed in a battle for control of its board
against former Executive Chairman Warren Lichtenstein last
summer but remains under pressure to boost its performance.
Activist hedge fund Elliott Investment Management disclosed it
had accumulated a 3.7% stake in Aerojet in August.
 (Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington and David Carnevali in
New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
 ((David.Carnevali@thomsonreuters.com;))