Boeing to buy Spirit for $4.7 bln in all stock deal

Investing.com-- Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) has agreed to reacquire Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc (NYSE:SPR) for over $4 billion, ending months of speculation over the deal as the planemaker struggled with a new safety crisis, the two companies said on Monday. 

Boeing will pay $37.25 for each share in Spirit in an all stock deal, Spirit said in a press release, valuing the aircraft parts maker at $4.7 billion. Including debt, the deal will come up to a total transaction value of $8.3 billion.

"Bringing Spirit and Boeing together will enable greater integration of both companies' manufacturing and engineering capabilities, including safety and quality systems," Spirit CEO Patrick M. Shanahan said.

The deal will see the break-up of Spirit, with some of its assets going to French planemaker Airbus Group SE (EPA:AIR), over antitrust concerns. Spirit said it will divest operations in Malaysia, Scotland and Northern Ireland as part of the deal.

Boeing will bring Spirit back under its wing after the planemaker spun off the company in 2005. The move also comes as Boeing grapples with a renewed safety scandal after the mid-air opening of a door on a 737 MAX 9 jet exposed a slew of safety and quality issues. 

The renewed crisis comes after two crashes of the 737 MAX jet killed over 350 people in 2018 and 2019, and ramped up regulatory scrutiny against the company. 

A Reuters report said the U.S. Justice Department sought to criminally charge Boeing with fraud over the two crashes.