Northrop completes $9B Orbital ATK acquisition

WASHINGTON — Falls Church-based Northrop Grumman received final regulatory approval Tuesday for its acquisition of rocket maker Orbital ATK, creating a huge Northern Virginia contracting company with 80,000 employees worldwide.

The Federal Trade Commission signed off on the $9 billion deal, which includes $7.8 billion in cash and the assumption of $1.4 billion in Orbital ATK debt. Northrop expects the acquisition to close after the stock markets close today.

As a result, Northrop has raised its financial guidance for 2018 and now expects full-year revenue of about $30 billion, about $3 billion more than its most recent financial guidance in April.

Orbital ATK is now known as Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems — a new, fourth business sector for the company.

Orbital ATK itself is the result of the 2015 merger or Orbital Sciences Corp. and the aerospace and defense groups of Alliant Techsystems Inc.

Jeff Clabaugh

Jeff Clabaugh has spent 20 years covering the Washington region's economy and financial markets for WTOP as part of a partnership with the Washington Business Journal, and officially joined the WTOP newsroom staff in January 2016.

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