Spirit AeroSystems will now pay $420 million to purchase Belgium aircraft component shop Asco, having secured a further $184 million discount due to ongoing fallout from a cyberattack against Asco earlier this year.
Wichita-based Spirit has also agreed to delay closing the deal until at least 4 April 2020, giving Asco more time to complete regulator-required data processing, Spirit says on 31 October.
The $420 million price is 35% less than the $650 million Spirit agreed to pay for Asco when the companies announced the acquisition in May 2018. Spirit first secured a price cut, to $604 million, in May.
The deal was held up first by European regulators, who, due to competitive concerns, required Asco complete data processing work. The data project was then hampered by a June cyberattack against Asco.
"We mutually agreed on a reduced price of $420 million and other additional terms which provide adequate compensation from any potential impact stemming from the cyberattack and for the expense we have incurred since the deal was announced," Spirit chief executive Tom Gentile says during Spirit's third quarter earnings call.
"They cyberattack… caused delays in the data segregation, which was a requirement to meet the conditions of the European Commission approval," Gentile adds. "Asco has now restarted the data segregation process."
Spirit announced its intention to acquire Asco in May 2018 for $650 million, and initially hoped to close the deal in the second half of 2018. The US company relies heavily on its aerostructures work for Boeing and has described the Asco purchase as a means to acquire more Airbus and defence work.
Asco's portfolio includes components made for A320-family aircraft, A330s, A380s and Lockheed Martin F-35s.
After reviewing the proposed acquisition, the European Commission raised competitive concerns about aircraft slats.
Asco is a member of Belgian aerospace consortium Belairbus, which supplies products to Airbus. Slat company Sonaca is another member, and European regulators had concerns that Spirit, after acquiring Asco, might coordinate business with Sonaca.
The regulator ultimately approved the Spirit-Asco deal, but required Spirit to agree that Belairbus will not negotiate directly with Airbus. As part of the approval, Asco also needed to complete "data segregation" work, Spirit has said.
That data effort was delayed when a cyber attack struck Asco in June.
Delays aside, Spirit's Gentile remains upbeat about acquiring Asco.
"The financial forecast for the business remains strong, and we continue to be excited about the strategic fit and financial outlook of Asco," he says.
