Diversified defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. is so disgusted by the antitrust review process that it may back out of a planned merger of its rocket business with the rocket business of aerospace giant Boeing Co.
While the Pentagon has approved the deal, the Federal Trade Commission has yet to announce a yea or nay vote for almost a year prompting Lockheed to announce plans to review whether the deal still makes sense, CFO Chris Kubasik told analysts Tuesday. What makes Kubasik's announcement so strange is last week's reports that the FTC is near approval of the deal. Of course, the FTC is reportedly considering strict conditions on the deal. Perhaps those conditions are so strict that continuing independently may be more profitable than the merger.
Lockheed's threats may not be idle ones. In 2004, Lockheed walked away from an announced acquisition of intelligence networking firm Titan Corp. because of a federal bribery probe of Titan. —Matthew Wurtzel
See story from The Washington Post
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