Northrop Grumman launched a $5.9 billion unsolicited bid for TRW as Flight International went to press. The bid comes just three months after it completed the $2.1 billion take-over of nuclear warship builder Newport News.
TRW had sales of $16.4 billion last year, $10 billion coming from the automotive business which the company was already considering selling and which Northrop Grumman would spin off.
Northrop Grumman says the acquisition of TRW would strengthen its space business, add a communications capability and enhance its information technology business. The transaction, which the company hopes to complete by the third quarter, if it is accepted, would boost Northrop Grumman's 2003 sales to $26-27 billion, vaulting it above Lockheed Martin to become the second largest aerospace/defence firm behind Boeing.
Source: Flight International
