Boeing Plant Purchase "Too Big"
Just earlier this week,
everything seemed so warm and friendly between Boeing and
British-based GKN PLC, a company that makes aerospace and
automotive parts. Boeing reportedly wants to sell its manufacturing
plants in Kansas and Oklahoma. GKN, which has already purchased the
Boeing commercial aircraft plant in Hazelwood (MO), confirmed it
was interested.
Then came Thursday. That's when the Reuters news agency reported
GKN had suddenly lost interest and "walked away" from the deal.
Citing an unnamed source close to the deal, Reuters reported
Boeing presented GKN with an "all-or-nothing" deal -- either the
British company purchase three plants in Wichita, Tulsa and
McAlester or there would be no deal. At that point, the wire
service reported, GKN decided the Wichita plant was just too big to
buy and ended negotiations.
Neither Boeing nor GKN would confirm those reports. On
Wednesday, ANN reported Boeing would brief its workers on plans for
the three plants sometime this week. Thursday, there was no
briefing, but there was an email:
Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2004 1:00 PM
TO: All Wichita, Tulsa and McAlester Employees
The study of options for the future of BCA operations in
Wichita, Tulsa, and McAlester continues. Several organizations have
indicated interest in the sites. No decisions have been made. Our
next step is to exchange information with a selected group of them
and conduct tours. You may see some of these visitors on site over
the next several weeks. We have prepared office space for them to
use while they are on campus.
There is no set timetable for completing this part of our study,
but we do expect it to be a slow process. Following the preparation
and refinement of the assessments by the selected parties, the
company will carefully evaluate all proposals. At that point, we
will determine whether to enter into further discussions or to
terminate the process. If the decision is to continue discussions,
we would expect rather lengthy negotiations toward a mutually
acceptable transaction with one of the interested parties.
We will communicate what we can to employees and other stake
holders throughout the process. The amount of information we will
be able to give you will depend on any privacy agreements we might
have with interested parties. Experience tells us that many
important issues won't be resolved for quite a while, and that
guesses today about what will happen in the future are as likely to
prove wrong as they are right. Remember, this is far from a "done
deal" at this time. No firm decision can be made or will be made
until all the facts are in. We are following a very methodical
approach to ensure we get all the facts we need to make a wise
decision. Thank you for your patience!