The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday it has filed suit to block Lockheed Martin Corp.’s $4.4 billion acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc., alleging the deal will allow the Bethesda defense giant to harm rival contractors and consolidate multiple markets the agency deems critical to national security and defense.
The FTC cited Aerojet’s status as the last independent U.S. supplier of missile propulsion systems. The agency said the lawsuit is its first litigated challenge of a defense merger in decades.
“If consummated, this deal would give Lockheed the ability to cut off other defense contractors from the critical components they need to build competing missiles,” Holly Vedova, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. “Without competitive pressure, Lockheed can jack up the price the U.S. government has to pay, while delivering lower quality and less innovation. We cannot afford to allow further concentration in markets critical to our national…
Read the full story from the Washington Business Journal.
