Defense contractor L3Harris Technologies has an agreement to buy Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc. in an all-cash transaction valued at $4.7 billion, including net debt. L3Harris is a specialist in developing and manufacturing IT and wireless technologies, avionics and electronics, and terrestrial and spaceborne antennae.
Aerojet Rocketdyne is mainly a manufacturer of rocket engines and missile propulsion systems to the U.S. Dept. of Defense, NASA, and international partners and allies.
The combination, L3Harris stated, will strengthen its role as a supplier capable of addressing current and emerging global threats and promote scientific discovery and innovation through investments in advanced missile technologies, hypersonics, and other capabilities.
L3Harris chairman and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik said the purchase – its second major acquisition in 2022 – demonstrates its continued focus on delivering critical capabilities to warfighters and strengthening the U.S. defense industrial base through increased competition.
Earlier this year, Lockheed Martin Corp. called off a proposed $4.4-billion deal for Aerojet Rocketdyne after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued to block the transaction. FTC claimed that Lockheed would use its control of Aerojet – a supplier of advanced power, propulsion, and armament systems that are critical components of missile systems – to undercut the competitiveness of other defense contractors (e.g., Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon Technologies), and consolidate several national defense/security markets.
“We’ve heard the DoD leadership loud and clear: they want high-quality, innovative and cost-effective solutions to meet both current and emerging threats, and they’re relying upon a strong, competitive industrial base to deliver those solutions,” Kubasik said. He pledged that the combined organization would “drive continuous process improvement, enhance business operations, and elevate the performance of this crucial national asset.”
In October L3Harris agreed to purchase Viasat Inc.’s Tactical Data Links (Link 16) product line for approximately $1.96 billion. Link 16 is a network integrated on military aircraft, ground vehicles, surface vessels and operating bases, for military personnel to share voice and data communications across multiple domains.
