Northrop Acquisition Expands Valley Footprint

Northrop Grumman Corp. will acquire Orbital ATK Inc. in a deal valued at $9.2 billion. With the transaction the Falls Church, Va. aerospace and defense contractor will add an additional San Fernando Valley region location to its portfolio. Orbital ATK, in Dulles, Va., has a facility in Northridge for developing advanced anti-radiation guided missiles used on the U.S. Navy’s Hornet, Super Hornet and Growler aircraft and the Italian Air Force’s Tornado aircraft. The Valley location also has production lines to produce the AAR-47 Missile Warning System, designed to protect helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft from surface-to-air threats; and Common Munitions BIT Reprogramming Equipment used with weapon systems to upload and download flight software. Northrop has its Navigation Systems division headquartered in Woodland Hills to develop and manufacture navigation and positioning systems for aircraft, satellites, missiles and ships. The company also has a facility in Palmdale for manufacturing the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft and maintenance and upgrades on the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. The acquisition was announced on Monday. The price includes $7.8 billion in cash and the assumption of $1.4 billion in debt.