Airplane interior maker B/E Aerospace shareholders have approved the Wellington companys acquisition by Rockwell Collins of Iowa for $6.4 billion, which means the company will no longer be a Palm Beach County headquarters company.
The merger was approved at a special meeting of stockholders held on Thursday at the Hilton Palm Beach Airport in West Palm Beach. The merger was previously announced last Oct. 23.
B/E Aerospace has about 10,000 employees worldwide, though only a small percentage have been located at its headquarters in Wellington. In October 2016, the company notified state and local officials that it would close its manufacturing operation in Medley in Miami-Dade County and lay off 53 workers.
Corporate functions will be consolidated with Rockwell Collins headquarters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said Rockwell Collins spokeswoman Pamela Tvrdy-Cleary.
Under the merger agreement, B/E Aerospace stock will be canceled and shareholders converted into the right to receive $34.10 in cash and 0.3101 of a share of Rockwell Collins common stock, for each share owned. The total value is $64.38 a share, the two companies said.
The merger is still subject to certain closing conditions, but is expected to close during this spring.
For 2016, B/E Aerospacess operating earnings of $506.6 million increased 12 percent over $452 million a year ago. Net earnings and net earnings per diluted share were $311.1 million, or $3.08 a share, compared with $286 million, or $2.73 a share, in 2015..
Annual revenues were $2.9 billion, an increase of 7.4 percent compared with $2.7 billion in 2015
Combined, the companies have $8.1 billion in revenues, based on the latest numbers, said Patrick Allen, chief financial officer of Rockwell Collins.
When announcing the deal in October of last year, the companies said the merger would combine Rockwell Collins capabilities in flight deck avionics, cabin electronics, mission communications, simulation and training, and information management systems with B/E Aerospace's cabin interior products, which include seating, food and beverage preparation and storage equipment, lighting and oxygen systems, and modular galley and lavatory systems for commercial airliners and business jets.
B/E Aerospace was founded in 1987 with the acquisition of Bach Engineering. In 1989, its primary competitor in the avionics business, EECO was acquired and the name was changed to B/E Avionics. In April 1990, the company went public on Nasdaq, raising about $12 million.
In the ensuing years, B/E Aerospace acquired several cabin interior equipment companies, and in 2008, Honeywells consumables solutions business was acquired. That made B/E Aerospace a top distributor of aerospace fasteners, and maintenance and repair supplies.
In 2014, the companys aerospace distribution and energy services business was spun-off to form KLX, also based in Wellington.
mpounds@sunsentinel.com or 561-243-6650, twitter: @marciabiz
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Shareholders approve BE Aerospace acquisition - Sun Sentinel