spacetoday.net: FTC approves Rocketdyne-Aerojet deal

FTC approves Rocketdyne-Aerojet deal

Posted: Wed, Jun 12, 2013, 8:17 AM ET (1217 GMT)
Federal antitrust regulators gave their approval this week to the acquisition of Rocketdyne by the parent company of Aerojet. The two companies announced the $550-million deal last July, but the deal had been in limbo while the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) evaluated whether the acquisition of one rocket engine manufacturer by another raised antitrust issues. The FTC found that the deal would give GenCorp, Aerojet's parent, a monopoly for liquid divert and attitude control systems (LDACS) used in missiles, but the Defense Department urged that the deal move ahead because of "potential non-economic benefits" from the deal. Aerojet had previously offered to sell its LDACS business as a condition of the sale, but the FTC won't require that divestiture as a condition of approval of the overall deal.