LMT - Sen. Elizabeth Warren others urge DOJ to probe L3Harris purchase of Aerojet

2023-07-11 08:56:59 ET

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and three other lawmakers are urging the Defense Department to review L3Harris's ( NYSE: LHX ) planned $4.7 billion acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne ( NYSE: AJRD ).

"Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Boeing are all dependent on products that only Aerojet is able to produce, and their operations could be hamstrung by its acquisition," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and others, according to a Reuters report on Tuesday.

The latest Warren letter comes after she urged the Federal Trade Commission in January to review the Aerojet ( AJRD ) transaction. Warren said at the time that she also wants the antitrust regulator to unwind Northrop Grumman's ( NOC ) 2018 purchase of Ortital ATK.

A bipartisan group of more than 30 members of Congress signed off on a letter to the Secretary of Defense supporting the Aerojet ( AJRD ) deal, according to reports by Dealreporter and CTFN last month.

Last month, The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said L3Harris ( LHX ) planned acquisition of Aerojet (AJRD ) shouldn’t be blocked on antitrust grounds.

The FTC’s scrutiny of L3Harris's ( LHX ) planned deal comes a year and a half after it sued to block Lockheed Martin’s ( LMT ) $4.4 billion acquisition of Aerojet ( AJRD ), arguing that the combined company would be able to cut off supplies of key missile parts to competitors and harm national security. Raytheon Technologies ( RTX ), a major supplier of missiles to the armed forces, also objected to the deal.

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