The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has attached conditions to Boeing’s proposed acquisition of Wichita, Kansas-based Spirit AeroSystems, including a transfer of certain business segments to rival Airbus.
For the $4.7 billion deal to move forward, the FTC said this week, Boeing must divest Spirit businesses that supply aerostructures to Airbus, including all assets and personnel. The assets will be divested to Airbus.
Boeing must also give up Spirit’s division in Subang, Malaysia, which builds aerostructures for both Boeing and Airbus. That business will be sold to technology company Composites Technology Research Malaysia.
Additionally, Spirit will be required to continue work on military aircraft for some of Boeing’s competitors and cannot discriminate in favor of the aerospace giant in its dealings with those companies. Spirit must also agree to protect its confidential information.
FTC officials said Wednesday that, without these conditions in place, Boeing “would have the ability and incentive to deny or limit competitors’ access to Spirit’s aerostructure products and technologies, inhibiting competitors’ ability to compete against Boeing.”
Boeing in June announced plans to buy back Spirit after spinning it off 20 years ago. The manufacturer had already agreed to divest certain Spirit assets linked to Airbus, including sites in Kansas, North Carolina, France, Morocco, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.
Spirit builds fuselage sections for Boeing’s 737 and 787 aircraft and produces flight deck components for most of its commercial aircraft. It also supplies fuselage and wing parts for Airbus’ A220 and A350.
Boeing has said its reacquisition of Spirit will help it impose uniform safety and quality standards across its production lines.
