L3Harris Technologies, an aerospace and defence company, confirmed that it has been informed that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission would not oppose its proposed US$4.7 billion acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne (Aerojet).
L3Harris Technologies has now raised its full-year forecasts for revenue and profit as the war in Ukraine has increased demand for defence equipment. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and certain additional lawmakers had urged the Defence Department to thoroughly review the proposed deal, indicating that it had the potential to impact the operations of Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Boeing – all three companies depending on products that only Aerojet produces. Aerojet is responsible for providing liquid and solid rocket propulsion and hypersonic engines for space, defence, civil and commercial applications. L3Harris Technologies made the announcement back in December 2022 that it intended to buy Aerojet, and has said it expects to close the deal around July 28.
The FTC did not immediately respond to a Reuters news agency request for comment.
With the Ukraine war increasing demand for missiles and defence systems, Aerojet turned into an attractive takeover target. In 2022, Lockheed Martin walked away from its deal with Aerojet after antitrust regulators sued to block it on competition concerns. On Wednesday, L3Harris Technologies raised its annual revenue forecast to between US$18 billion and US$18.3 billion, from US$17.4 billion to US$17.8 billion estimated earlier.
L3Harris now expects profit to be between US$12.15 and US$12.55 per share, from US$12 to US$12.50 estimated earlier. Formed by the merger of L3 Technologies and Harris Corp in 2019, the defence contractor's customers include the Pentagon, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and RTX Corp. (£1.00 = US$1.28 at time of publication).
