HispanicBusiness

GenCorp Inc. is prepared to jettison a part of its business to clear the way for acquiring Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.

Last July, GenCorp Inc., parent of Rancho Cordova rocket maker Aerojet, announced announced that it was buying rival rocket-engine maker Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne in a $550 million deal that will nearly double GenCorp's business.

The Federal Trade Commission, which is overseeing the proposed acquisition from United Technologies Corp., noted that both Aerojet and Rocketdyne have government contracts for Liquid Divert and Attitude Control Systems, or LDACS, technology for rocket flight stabilization/steering.

As a result, Aerojet said it is in the process of preparing its LDACS business -- a comparatively small component of operations -- for sale to facilitate the overall acquisition.

Part of the FTC's regulatory charge is investigating the implications of consolidating rocket technologies within a single company. The FTC has not included large and medium liquid rocket engines among its concerns.

GenCorp. said it expects the acquisition to close in the first half of this year.

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