spacetoday.net: ATK and Orbital Sciences announce merger

Posted: Tue, Apr 29, 2014, 4:43 PM ET (2043 GMT)
The aerospace and defense business of ATK will merge with Orbital Sciences Corporation in a surprise $5-billion the companies announced Tuesday morning. In what the companies call a "merger of equals", ATK's aerospace and defense unit will take a 53.8% stake in the merged company, with Orbital holding the rest. Current Orbital president and CEO David Thompson will hold those positions in the merged company, to be called "Orbital ATK," while Blake E. Larson, president of ATK's aerospace unit, will be the chief operating officer. ATK plans to spin off its sporting division as part of the merger process. Officials with both companies said they expect to see both sales and cost synergies as part of the deal, including enhanced use of ATK rocket motors in Orbital's family of launch vehicles. The companies said they expect the deal to close, after receiving shareholder and regulatory approvals, by the end of 2014.