Boeing Co. agreed on Sunday to purchase Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. for $37.25 per share in an all-stock deal that values the company at $4.7 billion, according to people with knowledge of the deal.
The U.S. planemaker also plans to take over about $3.5 billion of Spirit’s debt as part of the deal, which could be announced as early as Monday, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the transaction. is not made public. Reuters reported the price per share earlier on Sunday. Company representatives declined to comment.
Boeing plans to take control of Spirit manufacturing that underpins its line of commercial jets, including building the frames for its cash-cow 737 Max, two of the people said. It will also take control of some of Spirit’s defense contracts, they said.
Boeing, big rival Airbus SE is also expected to announce a takeover of some Spirit plants that make structures and components for its commercial aircraft. Terms of that transaction were not immediately available.
Boeing is seeking to reinstate Spirit after a January accident aboard a 737 Max-9 jetliner exposed quality and manufacturing flaws at Boeing and its main supplier and led to a rethink of their relationship.
Spirit is facing financial pressure and growing scrutiny alongside Boeing after the door-shaped panel of a 737 Max 9 model exploded minutes after takeoff. Shipments of 737 fuselages plummeted as Boeing stepped up inspections in Kansas and at home near Seattle, and refused to accept plane structures with missing components or incomplete work.
For Boeing, the deal brings in-house a key supplier for the 737, 787 Dreamliner and other commercial planes at a time when the company is feeling the financial strain of slowing production. Boeing lost about $4 billion in cash in the first quarter and is expected to lose a similar amount in the next three months of the year. The company’s credit rating is one level above junk grade, and management is keen to avoid slipping into junk territory.
The Wichita campus, which builds most of Boeing’s 737 airframes as well as the nose sections of its 787 Dreamliners, has been at the center of several defects as it grapples with post-Covid staff turnover. Reintegrating Spirit aims to help Boeing stabilize its supply chain and gain more control over its plane production.
