Boeing has not made an annual profit since 2018 and has lost about $25 billion in the process. Last week, Boeing announced plans to raise up to $25 billion in new equity and debt to rein in its balance sheet. The company plans to raise the money over the next three years, but is wasting no time.
Most read on IEN:
According to Reutersthe aircraft manufacturer has signed a deal to sell Digital Receiver Technology, the company’s small defense subsidiary in Maryland that makes surveillance equipment for the US military. According to the company’s website, DRT designs and produces complex Software Defined Radio (SDR) systems used by the intelligence, defense and homeland security communities to collect, analyze and share signals information.
Boeing is selling DRT to Thales Defense & Security, a division of Thales SA, Europe’s largest defense electronics company. The division is also based in Maryland.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, so it is unknown how much damage it will do to the company’s $25 billion target.
On Friday, Boeing’s new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, announced plans to cut about 17,000 jobs and delay the launch of a new 777 plane. The company spent more than $1 billion in cash and ended September with $10.3 billion in cash and securities, according to the AP. A major pressure on the company are the 33,000 striking machinists who have paralyzed production for more than a month. The union will vote Wednesday on a new deal that would increase wages by 35% over four years and give $7,000 ratification bonuses to workers.
The layoffs extend beyond Boeing. Spirit AeroSystems, which Boeing is currently looking to acquire for around $4.7 billion, announced plans to give 700 employees three weeks of leave starting this month. If the union cannot reach a deal by the end of next month, the furloughed workers will be laid off.
Click here to subscribe to our daily newsletter with the latest news from the manufacturing industry.
