Global aerospace company Boeing confirmed an agreement to acquire Wichita’s Spirit AeroSystems in an $8.3 billion deal, announced on July 1.
Dave Calhoun, CEO of Boeing said that this deal is in the best interest of airline customers and employees of Spirit, and by combining the two companies again will lead to the alignment of safety and quality systems, and other incentives and outcomes.
“This is an opportunity to bring back critical airplane manufacturing work on Boeing airplanes into our factories – where Boeing and Spirit world-class engineers and mechanics can work seamlessly together, focused on a common mission to build safe and quality airplanes for our customers,” Calhoun said.
The merger agreement says that Boeing will acquire Spirit, headquartered in Wichita, with a share of $37.25 in Boeing’s common stock.
“At $37.25 per share, this represents an equity value of approximately $4.7 billion and an enterprise value of approximately $8.3 billion including Spirit’s last reported net debt,” according to the press release by Spirit.
Spirit AeroSystems, which is one of Kansas’s largest private employers, specializes in distributing and manufacturing multiple different commercial airplanes, regional and business jets, and defense platforms. The company also produces wing, propulsion, and fuselage systems.
Spirit employs more than 20,500 workers, 10,000–15,000 of whom are employed in Kansas. The facility covers nearly 1,125 acres in southeast Wichita. Boeing officials declined to comment on how the merger will affect jobs at the Wichita location.
Airbus SE will acquire certain Spirit assets that serve their programs. Airbus is Boeing’s largest competitor and operates as the biggest aeronautics space company in Europe. The company employs around 134,000 employees, with operations in Europe, North and South America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
The merger agreement was unanimously agreed upon by all parties, plus the 11 member Spirit Board of Directors. The transaction is expected to close in 2025.
Patrick Shanahan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Spirit, said bringing the two companies together will create better integration in manufacturing, engineering, safety, and quality systems.
“After carefully evaluating Boeing’s offer to combine, we are confident this transaction is in the best interest of Spirit and its shareholders and will benefit Spirit’s other stakeholders,” Shanahan said.
History in Wichita
In 1927, Lloyd Stearman, an aviation pioneer, moved his company Stearman Aircraft Company, to a site in Wichita, KS, from its original factory in California. Nearly two years later, Stearman Aircraft Company was purchased by Boeing. Boeing’s Wichita facility later played an essential aircraft producing role during WWII.
In 2006, Spirit expanded its business unit into the U.K., later becoming one of the largest airframe suppliers in Europe. Within the next three years, Spirit expanded into Malaysia, France, and North Carolina in 2010.
Boeing announced the closure of its Wichita site in early 2012 after 85 years in business. This site closure layed off or transferred nearly 2,100 of its Wichita employees. The company moved its manufacturing operations to Oklahoma, Texas, and Washington.
