Boeing Agrees To Buy Fuselage-Maker For Nearly $5 Billion

Boeing manufacturing facility.

Maybe the beleaguered Boeing Company isn’t so beleaguered after all.

Despite its well-documented protocol and safety issues in the wake of the January 5 incident in which a door panel blew off an Alaska Airlines plane manufactured by Boeing, and despite nearly a half-dozen federal investigations, Boeing found the time, and $4.7 billion, to purchase Spirit AeroSystems.

Spirit AeroSystems was formerly a part of Boeing before being spun off into its own company. It makes the fuselage for airplanes. It is not affiliated with Spirit Airlines.

This is an all-stock deal if you’re wondering about the money portion.

“Among the many actions we’re taking as a company, this is one of the most significant in demonstrating our unwavering commitment to strengthen quality and make certain that Boeing is the company the world needs it to be,” Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said in a message to employees.

The deal was officially announced on Monday; Spirit’s shares closed Friday at $32.87 a share. Calhoun said he expects the deal to close next year pending regulatory approval.

Spirit AeroSystems had been a part of Boeing for almost 20 years and even though it was its own company it still drew almost 70 percent of its revenue from Boeing. Ironically, Spirit CEO Pat Shanahan is considered a possible successor for Calhoun, who said he would step down at the end of the year.

Boeing was under fire again this week after it said that missing paperwork led to the Alaska Airlines incident.