Macdonald Dettwiler gets US Government OK on Loral Acquisition

Space Systems/Loral President John Celli. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States today informed Macdonald Dettwiler there are no unresolved national security concerns with respect to  its proposed acquisition of the company.

Macdonald Dettwiler (TSX:MDA)this evening announced it had been notified by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States that it had concluded its review of the proposed purchase of Space Systems/Loral, Inc. and had determined that there are no unresolved national security concerns with respect to the transaction.

Last week, the BC-based company announced it had received a request for information from the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with the company’s proposed acquisition. The company suggested the request may be part of the review process under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.

Shares of Shares of MacDonald Dettwiler rocketed late in June after the company announced it had agreed to acquire Space Systems, a subsidiary of New York satellite communications company Loral. MDA said it would pay (US) $875-million plus cash dividends and other payments from SS/L, which are expected to be in excess of (US) $135-million.

CEO Dan Friedmann called the acquisition, which effectively doubles the size of the Canadian aerospace company, “game changing.”

Loral was founded in 1948 by William Lorenz and Leon Alpert as Loral Electronics Corporation. The company went public in 1959 and has since formed partnerships with Ford Aerospace, Qualcomm and IBM. In 1996, Lockheed Martin acquired the defense electronics and system integration businesses of Loral for $9.1 billion, and the company adopted the name it known by today. Loral’s revenue has grown from $869-million in fiscal 2008 to more than $1.1-billion in 2011.

Shares of Macdonald Dettwiler closed down .1% to $51.60.

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