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FALLS CHURCH, Virginia — Weapons giant Northrop Grumman has acquired aerospace systems manufacturer Orbital ATK in a massive deal valued at $7.8 billion, officials announced Wednesday.
“We welcome Orbital ATK’s talented employees,” Northrop Grumman Chairman and CEO Wes Bush said in a statement posted on the company’s website. “We are delighted to have them join the Northrop Grumman team, and we are very excited about the value creation our combination represents for our customers, shareholders and employees.”
Orbital ATK will now be known as Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, a fourth business sector for the company, according to Northrop Grumman officials.
The Federal Trade Commission authorized the deal on the condition that the company supply solid rocket motors to its competitors on a non-discriminatory basis, according to the agency’s website. That condition was put in place as part of a settlement that resolved charges the acquisition would be anti-competition, according to the FTC.
Solid rocket motors propel missiles to their intended targets, FTC officials said.
Orbital ATK has operated at several locations in Utah, including in Promontory, Magna, Clearfield and Logan, according to the company’s website. The company employs about 3,000 people in the state.
Per the FTC’s conditions, the solid rocket motor business will need to be separated from the rest of Northrop Grumman’s operations, the agency said. The Department of Defense also may assign a compliance officer to monitor the company’s operations that relate to the settlement conditions.
Virginia-based Northrop Grumman is one of four companies that supply missile systems to the U.S. government, according to the FTC. The company is No. 118 on the Fortune 500 list, with revenues of just over $25.8 billion, according to Fortune 500.
The company also manufactures autonomous, cyber, strike, logistics and other systems, company officials said on the website.
“Together, through our leading technologies and innovation-focused culture, we look forward to developing enhanced mission capabilities and more competitive offerings in critical global security domains,” Bush said in the statement.
