- According to Reuters, Boeing plans to buy back Spirit Aero, a manufacturer of parts for the 737 and 787 jets.
- The $4.7 billion all-stock acquisition is expected to be officially announced on Monday, the media outlet said.
- The deal will bring Spirit Aero back into the Boeing family and should help boost the company’s aircraft production.
Boeing plans to buy back Spirit AeroSystems, a maker of parts for the 737 and 787 planes, in an all-stock deal worth $4.70, Reuters reported on Sunday.
The deal is the result of months of negotiations between the two aerospace companies and is aimed at addressing Boeing’s ongoing safety crisis, according to the outlet.
Boeing shares have fallen more than 27% this year after a series of manufacturing problems rippled across the airline industry. In January, a door plug on a new 737 MAX 9 jet burst in flight, sparking intense scrutiny of Boeing’s manufacturing processes.
Subsequent safety inspections of United Airlines and Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes found “numerous” loose bolts, Business Insider previously reported.
In a statement to BI in January, United Airlines said the loose bolts were related to door plugs manufactured by Spirit Aero.
Spirit Aero was a subsidiary of Boeing before being spun off into a separate company in 2005. The acquisition brings Spirit Aero back under Boeing’s umbrella, which is expected to boost aircraft production, Reuters reported.
The deal, which is expected to be formally announced on Monday, will see Spirit Aero’s Europe-focused operations sold to Boeing rival Airbus, which will take over the rest of the company, Reuters reported.
Representatives for Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems and Airbus did not immediately respond to BI’s requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.
Amid the negotiations with Spirit Aero, Boeing has been discussing a plea deal with the Department of Justice, which is trying to resolve plans to indict Boeing on fraud charges. The impending indictment comes after authorities determined that Boeing violated deferred prosecution agreements related to two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.
