Defense giants Harris, L3 Technologies to merge
Harris Corp. and L3 Technologies Inc. on Sunday announced plans to combine in the largest-ever defense merger, reacting to Pentagon efforts to get companies to boost investment and speed the development of weapons.
The enlarged company would have annual sales of around $16 billion this year and 48,000 staff, ranking sixth among U.S. defense contractors by revenue as the industry enjoys a bump in Pentagon spending after five years of budget cuts.
The deal, first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Saturday, would unite two companies with a combined market value of about $33.5 billion.
Also at Bloomberg, Reuters, and The Washington Post.
See also: Schumer: Rochester won't lose jobs as a result of Harris Corp. merger
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday October 15 2018, @04:55PM
"Seriously, we need more competitors trying everything they can to win bids" says a joint press release of the DC lobbying association and Congress.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 15 2018, @06:25PM (5 children)
Level3 should sue the fuckers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 15 2018, @10:20PM (4 children)
They are missing the opportunity to put that confusion fully behind them. Instead of just dropping the L3 name, it'll be "L3 Harris". Ugh. How about Larris?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday October 15 2018, @10:40PM (3 children)
I'm pretty sure defense contractors would welcome some confusion about their names and origins. The people who need to know will know, and the public knowing who they are is just a nuisance.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 15 2018, @11:31PM (2 children)
Raytheon proudly makes missiles, beam weapons, 0-day exploits, robotic gun turrets, and bombs.
`MURICA, FUCK YEAH!!!
I work on some of that stuff. It's lots of fun. We aren't one bit ashamed about the business. (Name: Raytheon. Origins: vacuum tubes.)
Want shame? That would be the entire business model of the Bay Area, tracking you by web browser and phone app and more, plus often restricting the information you can see.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 15 2018, @11:45PM (1 child)
Errr, while I see the evils of censorship and tracking it doesn't quite compare to a business literally built on death and destruction. It is quite apparent to anyone who cares to look that most of the US military actions are unnecessary and done for-profit. You can fuck right off with your equivalency and start feeling some shame for the literal murders you are responsible for. I got out of that industry ASAP because it creeped me out, and I wasn't even working on any death machine components.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 16 2018, @12:04AM
I'm not saying there is equivalency. I'm saying the tech industry is where the evil is. Defense contractors support their country, while the tech industry prefers to spy on it and sell it out.
Death and destruction can be beneficial. This is how nations resolve conflicts. Adults accept this.
I wouldn't mind being a landmine designer. There are some really neat ones. The USSR made ones that would hop up and blast you in the gut. We designed, but didn't deploy, ones that would communicate with a mesh network. They could hop into gaps made by mine clearing operations.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 16 2018, @12:54AM (2 children)
Wasn't Lockheed-Martin Marietta the biggest merger?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday October 16 2018, @02:57AM (1 child)
Lockheed and Martin Marietta Set to Merge in $10 Billion Deal [nytimes.com] (1994)
Guess it depends on how you measure it.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 16 2018, @09:24AM
Hm... The Lockheed-Martin merger in the 90s, producing the biggest defense contractor in the world, is valued at $10B, while this merger producing still a second-tier player is valued at three times that only two decades later. What do you know, the defense market did indeed grow a huge amount since the 9/11.