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DOJ Demands Divestment in Safran’s $1.8B RTX Deal to Address Antitrust Concerns

By  |  June 17, 2025

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit to block French aerospace giant Safran SA’s planned $1.8 billion acquisition of an actuation and flight control business from RTX Corp., citing potential harm to competition in a key aerospace market. However, the department also simultaneously proposed a settlement that would allow the deal to proceed—if specific divestitures are made.

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    According to a statement issued Tuesday, the DOJ filed the civil antitrust suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, naming both Safran and RTX as defendants. The government contends that, without structural changes, the transaction would violate Section 7 of the Clayton Act by significantly reducing competition for critical aircraft components.

    Per the Justice Department’s filing, the merger would reunite certain assets previously separated under the terms of a 2018 settlement involving United Technologies Corporation’s acquisition of Rockwell Collins. That earlier deal required divestitures to preserve competition, and many of those assets are now at the center of the new proposed Safran-RTX transaction. United Technologies later merged with Raytheon Company in 2020 to form RTX Corp.

    The DOJ’s Antitrust Division is seeking to prevent what it described as the re-consolidation of market power in the field of trimmable horizontal stabilizer actuators (THSAs), which help maintain aircraft altitude during flight and are considered essential for aviation safety. According to the complaint, Safran and RTX are two of the few remaining competitors in this specialized market.

    Related: Safran Secures EU Approval for $1.8 Billion Collins Aerospace Deal

    As outlined in the DOJ’s announcement, the agency has proposed that Safran divest its North American actuation business—including assets acquired in the 2018 settlement—to an independent buyer, Woodward Inc. This divestiture would also cover secondary flight control actuators and a Canadian-based electronic control unit operation. The department noted that Woodward is a longstanding participant in the aerospace sector and has the capabilities to operate the divested assets as an effective competitor.

    “Today’s settlement is a structural solution to an acquisition that would have harmed competition for important aircraft components that are critical to passenger safety,” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater in a statement. Slater emphasized that the remedy was crafted to ensure continued competition in the market, adding that such settlements reflect the DOJ’s “commitment to transparency and relief that secures robust and enforceable commitments from the merging parties.”

    The proposal also ensures that key Safran employees currently working in the affected business lines would transition to Woodward, maintaining operational continuity. According to a statement from the DOJ, the divested assets include all tangible and intangible elements necessary to support the ongoing production and sale of the relevant components.

    Regulatory bodies in Europe and the UK, including the European Commission and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, collaborated closely with U.S. authorities during the course of their investigations.

    Source: Justice Gov