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In response to the announcement that Lockheed Martin Corporation has terminated its proposed acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc., FTC Bureau of Competition Director Holly Vedova issued this statement:

“I am pleased that, for the second time in the span of a week, merging parties have abandoned an anticompetitive vertical transaction in the face of an FTC challenge. Lockheed Martin announced two days ago that it would terminate its attempt to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne. The acquisition would have eliminated the country’s last independent supplier of key missile propulsion inputs and given Lockheed the ability to cut off its competitors’ access to these critical components. Simply put, the deal would have resulted in higher prices and diminished quality and innovation for programs that are critical to national security. The FTC’s enforcement action in this matter dovetails with the DoD report released this week recommending stronger merger oversight of the highly concentrated defense industrial base. I want to thank the FTC team for their fantastic work on this highly complex matter and their close collaboration with their counterparts at the U.S. Department of Defense during the investigation.”

On Jan. 25, 2022, the Commission voted 4-0 to file an administrative complaint to block the proposed transaction. The complaint alleged that if the deal were allowed to proceed, Lockheed would use its control of Aerojet to harm rival defense contractors and further consolidate multiple markets critical to national security and defense.