Boeing to buy Spirit Aero for €4.4bn in stock deal

Deal means Airbus will seek to acquire Spirit's wing and mid-fuselage production in Belfast

The complex, three-way transaction reunites Boeing with an operation that it spun off in 2005 as part of a broader push to trim costs and outsource assets.

Boeing Co. agreed to buy back Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. for $37.25 a share in an all-stock deal that values the supplier at $4.7bn (€4.4bn), unwinding a two-decade separation as the embattled US planemaker tries to fix is manufacturing defects.

The total transaction value is about $8.3bn (€7.7bn), including Spirit’s last reported net debt, according to a statement early on Monday. Rival Airbus SE will also take over parts of Spirit that make parts for its operations, and the European planemaker will pay a nominal price of $1 for the assets, while receiving $559m (€519.2m) in compensation, according to a separate release.