- The FTC finalized a consent order with The Boeing Company and Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc., resolving allegations that Boeing’s proposed acquisition of Spirit would violate Section 7 of the Clayton Act and Section 5 of the FTC Act.
- According to the FTC, the proposed transaction would have allegedly given Boeing control over a critical supplier for rival prime contractors, potentially enabling Boeing to raise rivals’ costs, reduce innovation, and exploit access to competitors’ nonpublic proprietary information.
- Under the terms of the consent order, Boeing and Spirit must divest Spirit’s Airbus-related business and its Malaysia-related assets to FTC-approved acquirers and implement firewalls to protect third-party proprietary information.
- The companies must also appoint an independent monitor and a Department of War compliance officer to oversee divestitures and non-discrimination protections and must cover the monitor’s costs and certain compliance-officer advisor expenses, among other relief.