L3Harris says deal for Aerojet gets go-ahead from U.S. regulator

(Reuters) – Aerospace and defense company L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:) on Wednesday said it was informed that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission would not block its $4.7 billion deal for Aerojet Rocketdyne.

The company also raised its full-year forecasts for revenue and profit as the Ukraine war drives up demand for defense equipment.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and some other lawmakers had urged the Defense Department to thoroughly review the proposed deal, saying it could impact the operations of Lockheed Martin (NYSE:), Raytheon (NYSE:) and Boeing (NYSE:) – all of which depend on products that only Aerojet is able to produce.

Aerojet makes liquid and solid rocket propulsion and hypersonic engines for space, defense, civil and commercial applications.

L3Harris, which announced it would buy Aerojet in December, said it expects to close the deal on or about July 28. The FTC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

With the Ukraine war driving up demand for missiles and defense systems, Aerojet became an attractive takeover target.

In 2022, Lockheed Martin walked away from its deal with Aerojet after antitrust regulators sued to block it on competition concerns.

On Wednesday, L3Harris raised its annual revenue forecast to between $18 billion and $18.3 billion, from $17.4 billion to $17.8 billion estimated earlier.

L3Harris now expects profit to be between $12.15 and $12.55 per share, from $12 to $12.50 estimated earlier.

Formed by the merger of L3 Technologies and Harris Corp in 2019, the defense contractor’s customers include the Pentagon, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and RTX Corp.