Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman To Challenge Government Attempt to Block Combination
BETHESDA, MD, and CENTURY CITY, CA, March 23rd, 1998 -- Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman said today they will pursue their planned combination and oppose the Department of Justice's (DoJ) move to block the merger. The two Corporations said they had been working diligently to alleviate antitrust concerns, but that the government's demands for divestitures, which are unprecedented in size and scope, undermine the economic viability of the transaction. Overlapping program areas account for only a small amount of the combined companies' revenues, yet DoJ has been seeking divestitures of businesses accounting for over half of Northrop Grumman's sales. The companies stated that this is not a merger of two companies seeking to end competition between them, but that this is a merger designed to strengthen competition in areas of strategic importance to the United States. Body
