By David Purtell – Digital Editor, Triangle Business Journal
The multibillion-dollar deal for Boeing to buyback Spirit AeroSystems is being felt in North Carolina.
As part of the deal, Airbus, the multinational aerospace company that is a top competitor to Boeing (NYSE: BA), will acquire the Spirt AeroSystems (NYSE: SPR) operation in Kinston at the North Carolina Global TransPark.
Spirit is a key supplier for Airbus, which is based in France and accounts for about 19 percent of Spirit’s revenue while Boeing makes up more than 60 percent.
Airbus said Spirit would pay $559 million before final terms because Airbus is taking over portions of the company that have lost money consistently. The deal also involves Airbus purchasing Spirit facilities in Northern Ireland, Morocco and France.
The Kinston site employs 500 to 600 workers and makes fuselage sections for the Airbus A350 aircraft.
“With this agreement, Airbus aims to ensure stability of supply for its commercial aircraft programs through a more sustainable way forward, both operationally and financially, for the various Airbus work packages that Spirit AeroSystems is responsible for today,” Airbus said in a statement Monday.
A final agreement and price is subject to due diligence process, the company said.
“Whilst there is no guarantee that a transaction will be concluded, all parties are willing and interested to work in good faith to progress and complete this process as timely as possible,” the company said.
Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems confirmed late Sunday an agreement in which the global planemaking giant will reacquire the Kansas-based company it spun off 19 years ago when its commercial programs left Wichita, Kansas. The purchase with Boeing stock is worth roughly $4.7 billion.
The companies said Boeing will pay $37.25 per share of Spirit stock to bring Spirit, its largest supplier, back under the Boeing name in an attempt to improve manufacturing processes that have caused safety concerns in the 737 Max program and publicly plagued both companies.
Spirit has more than 20,000 employees worldwide.
Kirk Seminoff, editor of the Wichita Business Journal, contributed to this story.
The preceding article originally appeared on July 2, 2024 at the Triangle Business Journal’s website and is made available here for educational purposes only. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Graphic above: Kyowa Kirin has submitted designs for its new Sanford facility.
