EU approves Boeing’s acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems, with conditions

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) by The Boeing Company (BA). The approval is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments offered by the companies. To address the Commission’s preliminary competition concerns, Boeing offered to divest (i) all Spirit’s businesses that currently supply Airbus with aerostructures, including all necessary assets and personnel, to Airbus (EADSY); and (ii) Spirit’s site in Malaysia – that currently supplies, among others, Airbus with aerostructures – to Composites Technology Research Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. These structural commitments fully address the competition concerns identified by the Commission. They will enable Airbus to integrate Spirit’s businesses that currently supply aerostructures to Airbus into Airbus’ own operations, and hence secure its supply chain. Also, they will allow a new competitive force, CTRM, to enter the market for aerostructures. Following the positive feedback received in the context of the market test, the Commission concluded that the transaction, as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns.