The Brazilian anti-trust regulating panel is due to reconsider the government's earlier decision to approve the sale of Embraer SA’s commercial aerospace division to Boeing Co., in response to an appeal by federal prosecutors, according to a published in that country. The panel, known as CADE, is expected to reconfirm the sale and merger, though the hearing will not be open to the public.
In January the panel approved Boeing’s purchase of Embraer SA’s commercial aviation division without restrictions, but federal prosecutors filed an appeal in February asking the antitrust agency to reconsider that decision.
Boeing is paying $4.2 billion to acquire the Embraer business unit, which designs and builds twin-engine aircraft for regional and mid-range service. The new company, a joint-venture called Boeing Brasil-Commercial, is intended to serve the commercial aviation "mid-market," meaning high-volume commuter and regional routes. Boeing will control 80% of the new firm, and Embraer will hold the remainder.
The pending combination has met with various delays, including a Brazilian investor asking the European Commission to block the pending combination.
The EU's antitrust regulatory agency is still reviewing the combo, a process that already has resulted in two delays on the basis of insufficient information concerning the competitive balance of the market, one that has seen considerable consolidation in the past decade.
