Safran wins EU antitrust approval for $1.8 billion Collins deal

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - French engine and aircraft equipment maker Safran on Friday secured the green light from EU antitrust regulators for its $1.8 billion bid for Collins Aerospace's flight controls business after pledging to sell a North American actuator business.

Safran announced the deal in 2023, its largest since its 2018 acquisition of seat maker Zodiac seven years ago, to help it better prepare for the next generation of increasingly computerised aircraft and expand its portfolio to supply civil and defence plane makers.

The European Commission said Safran's offer to divest a business addresses worries that the deal would have reduced competition in the markets for the supply of trimmable horizontal stabiliser actuator systems (THSA) and also lead to higher prices.

"To address the Commission's competition concerns, Safran offered to divest the entirety of its North American THSA business, which includes sites in Canada and in the United States, as well as assets in Mexico," the EU competition enforcer said in a statement.

The Commission will separately review potential buyer Woodward which reached a deal to buy the business from Safran last December.

Reuters was the first to report on imminent EU approval for the Collins deal. Collins is part of RTX Corp.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)