The penultimate hurdle in the great US aerospace and defence industry consolidation race should be overcome tomorrow when the shareholders of US giants Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman give the final thumbs up to their $38-billion merger.
Lockheed Martin spokesman Keith Mordoff says the merger process has gone very smoothly. "We are very close," he says. "We are still on target for the process to be completed by the end of March."
Shareholders of both companies are expected to approve the plan, leaving approval from the US Justice Department as the only hurdle. However Mordoff says that the companies "-don't expect any problems". Once completed, the newly-merged corporation will be the second biggest aerospace company in the world behind Boeing, and the world's largest defence contractor. Northrop Grumman international vice-president Rich Milburn says he is "also fairly confident" the merger will be completed on schedule.
Mordoff says the new consolidation is unlikely to lead to a further round of major downsizing. "We've been downsizing for seven of the past eight years and now we are in growth mode. This year we plan to hire 5,000 graduates. There may be some shaping of the work force," he concedes however.
Milburn says it is a delight the two companies had decided to come together to make the "world's best aerospace company".
Source: Flight Daily News
