UK regulator clears Boeing takeover of Spirit AeroSystems

(Reuters) -Britain's competition regulator has cleared Boeing's planned acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems, it said on Friday, after deciding against an in-depth investigation into whether the deal would be anti-competitive.    

The news is likely to reassure investors after a series of crises depleted Boeing's finances, strained employee morale and damaged public trust.    

The planemaker did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. A spokesperson for Spirit said the deal is expected to be closed in the fourth quarter of this year.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority did not provide details in its initial statement, but said the investigation would not go to a "phase 2" stage based on available data. The full text of its decision would be published shortly, it said.

Last year, Boeing agreed to buy back Spirit in a $4.7 billion all-stock deal to streamline its operations and improve quality control, years after spinning off the supplier. 

The acquisition marked an end to nearly two decades of independence for the world's largest standalone aerostructures company.

In July, Boeing also agreed to take over a portion of Spirit's operations in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from Europe's Airbus, which in April had finalised a deal to buy several of Spirit's facilities tied to its aircraft programmes.    

The watchdog began its initial investigation in June and had a deadline of August 28 for a decision.

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka, Nithyashree R B and Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema, Shilpi Majumdar and Barbara Lewis)