Lockheed Martin axes $4.4 billion deal over antitrust probe
US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin CEO James Taiclet announces terminating a $4.4 billion merge plan with rocket engine maker Aerojet Rocketdyne.
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The US plans to deploy a squadron of Lockheed Martin’s F-22 fighter jets for the Saudi-led coalition.
US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin has scrapped a $4.4 billion deal with Aerojet Rocketdyne to buy the rocket engine maker after the federal antitrust authority moved to block it.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said in January that it had sued to stop the acquisition of the country's last independent supplier of missile propulsion systems over concerns that Lockheed would use its leverage to harm rival defense contractors.
"We determined that in light of the FTC's actions, terminating the transaction is in the best interest of our stakeholders," Lockheed Martin CEO James Taiclet said in a press statement issued Sunday.
Taiclet said that the Maryland-based arms maker would continue working with Aerojet Rocketdyne -- one of the companies making up the US defense industrial base -- as it struggles to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is noteworthy that Bloomberg reported that the US "plans to deploy a squadron of Lockheed Martin’s F-22 fighter jets in addition to moving guided-missile destroyer USS Cole" to support the Saudi-led coalition in its war on Yemen.
In 2011, the UAE signed a multi-billion dollar deal for the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile protection system, built by Lockheed Martin.
