GE To Purchase Smiths Aerospace For Nearly $5 Billion | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.07.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.08.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.09.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-07.10.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.11.25

Mon, Jan 15, 2007

GE To Purchase Smiths Aerospace For Nearly $5 Billion

Companies Say Things Should Be 'Business As Usual'

Smiths Aerospace, the aerospace division of British consortium Smiths Group, has seen its business surge in recent years on orders from Boeing, Airbus, and Lockheed Martin. That has not gone unnoticed by American conglomerate General Electric -- which announced Monday it has reached an agreement to buy the aircraft components supplier for $4.8 billion.

"GE and Smiths fit together well because our product offerings are complementary, and because we have similar customers and deep domain expertise in this industry," said GE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt. "This acquisition is consistent with our strategy to invest in high-technology infrastructure businesses that deliver strong growth, earnings expansion and higher margins."

"GE Aviation is growing about 10 percent a year, and this acquisition gives us a technology growth platform that will be accretive to our net income and will deliver immediate and future value for our investors," Immelt added.

What the management-speak translates to is increased revenue for GE, on the strength of Smiths' many military and commercial projects -- including numerous components onboard the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 airliners, as well as the upcoming Boeing 787 passenger jet, and the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.

GE spokeswoman Jennifer Villareal said GE and Smiths workers shouldn't feel much of an impact from the deal, as each company caters to different segments of the aerospace market. GE makes aircraft powerplants, while avionics and flight management systems are Smiths' forte, although the company also makes such components as engine parts and landing gear systems.

"It's going to be business as usual. It's a growth position, with complementary businesses," she said.

In a statement on the company website, Smiths CEO Keith Butler-Wheelhouse said, "The structure of the aerospace industry is changing -- in particular its increased capital requirements and the growing importance of supplier scale, especially as the next generation of large programs kicks in. By selling Aerospace, we crystallize the value for our shareholders.  At the same time, we know that this business is going to a great owner."

The deal will have to pass regulatory muster on both sides of the pond. If the deal gets ok'd, Smiths' shareholders should get a nice fat paycheck in the form of B shares in June.

Smiths Aerospace has more than 11,000 employees in the US and Great Britain, and reported sales of $2.4 billion dollars in 2006.

FMI: www.geae.com, www.smiths-aerospace.com/

Advertisement

More News

NTSB Final Report: Aviat A1

Airplane Bounced About 3 Ft Then Touched Back Down And Then, With No Brakes Applied, The Airplane Began Veering To The Left Analysis: The pilot entered the airport traffic pattern >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.08.25)

Aero Linx: British Microlight Aircraft Association (BMAA) The primary focus within all aviation activity is SAFETY. In all aspects of our sport SAFETY must come first, whether it b>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Fly Corvair’s Reliable Engine Alternative

From SnF25 (YouTube Edition): William Wynne Builds Practical Aircraft Engines on the Corvair Platform Seeking an affordable alternative to the traditional aircraft engine options, >[...]

ANN FAQ: Contributing To Aero-TV

How To Get A Story On Aero-TV News/Feature Programming How do I submit a story idea or lead to Aero-TV? If you would like to submit a story idea or lead, please contact Jim Campbel>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: CiES Fuel-Quantity and e-Throttle Systems Praised

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Bridge of CiES CiES Inc. is a Bend, Oregon-based designer and manufacturer of modular embedded aircraft systems and sensors. The company’s fuel-l>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC