Safran Offers $1.8B Cash to Acquire Collins Aerospace's Flight Control Business

Safran has announced the acquisition of Collins Aerospace’s actuation and flight control business for $1.8 billion.

The business has around 3,700 employees across eight facilities in Europe (France, UK and Italy) and in Asia, and also benefits from MRO and engineering capabilities. It is expected to generate sales of approximately $1.5 billion and an EBITDA of $130 million in 2024.

“The contemplated transaction represents a unique opportunity to develop our position in mission critical actuation and flight control functions. Our highly complementary product offerings would create a global leader in these segments with around $1.8 billion of sales,” Olivier Andriès, Chief Executive Officer of Safran, commented.

The transaction is expected to generate approximately $50 million of annual pre-tax run-rate cost synergies, which would be progressively implemented from 2025 to 2028. Such synergies would notably come from economies of scale in procurement, R&D complementarity, internalization of sourcing and production flows. In addition, commercial synergies would be obtained through integrated offerings and a diversification of customers and geographic mix. Commercial synergies would continue post 2028 with run-rate achieved on next-generation aircraft by the middle of the next decade.

The enterprise value of $1.8 billion would represent a multiple of ~14x pre-cost synergies and ~10x post run-rate cost synergies based on 2024E EBITDA, with an expected IRR and ROCE 2028E of the transaction exceeding the Group’s WACC and with an accretive impact on Safran earnings per share from year one. As part of the contemplated acquisition, long-term supply agreements (covering ~25% of sales) would be secured between Safran and Collins at attractive terms. The transaction is expected to be fully financed with available cash, with a limited impact on the Group’s net leverage and a reiterated commitment to the robust Group’s investment grade rating.

Closing is expected to take place in the course of H2 2024.