Boeing gets EU approval to buy back fuselage supplier Spirit

The European Commission has approved the purchase of US supplier Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc by aircraft manufacturer Boeing, subject to certain conditions.

The authority announced in Brussels on Tuesday that the Arlington, Virginia-based aerospace company must sell all the business areas of the aircraft parts manufacturer that currently supply its competitor Airbus SE to the European consortium. This is intended to ensure competition in the market for aircraft components.

The commission said the takeover plans could have significantly restricted competition in the market for aircraft structures and large commercial aircraft.

Without conditions, Boeing would have had the opportunity and incentive to cut off Airbus from important supplies or put it at a disadvantage. In addition, the group would have gained access to confidential business information from its European rival.

Even before the European Commission's decision was announced, it was already clear that parts of Spirit would be transferred to Airbus.

The plan to bring the fuselage supplier Spirit Aerosystems back under the Boeing umbrella was announced around a year ago. According to information available at the time, the US group will pay the purchase price in the form of shares.

Boeing valued Spirit at around USD4.7 billion in the deal. The aircraft manufacturer also announced that it would take on around USD3.6 billion of Spirit's debt.

The original spin-off of the division from Boeing followed the trend at the time of streamlining corporations and saving money by outsourcing activities to suppliers.