US Approves $9 Billion Sikorsky Takeover: Lockheed Martin

The US government has approved the $9 billion sale of Sikorsky Aircraft from United Technologies Corp to Lockheed Martin.

“In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Authorities in Japan and South Korea had also approved the deal, but it was waiting for other regulatory approvals,” Reuters quoted Lockheed Martin as saying in a statement Thursday.

Lockheed Martin had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Sikorsky Aircraft for $9.0 billion in July this year. 

If the Sikorsky deal is approved, Lockheed has said it plans to fold the company into its Mission Systems & Training (MST) operation, creating a division with about $15 billion in annual revenues.

The services businesses it plans to keep will also become part of MST.

Sikorsky will be Lockheed's largest acquisition since it bought Loral Corp's defense electronics business for $9.1 billion in 1996, and merged with Martin Marietta in 1994 in a $10 billion deal.