EU antitrust regulators should block Boeing’s US$4.2 billion (£3.27 billion) purchase of Embraer’s commercial passenger jet division or demand hefty concessions, the head of Brazilian investor group Abradin said, calling it a killer acquisition.
Aurelio Valporto complained about the deal to the European Commission two months ago, saying it created hurdles to competition in the Brazilian aerospace industry, and on Wednesday, December 4, took his grievance to Brazil’s antitrust watchdog CADE. Abradin represents minority investors.
Boeing is buying 80% of Embraer’s commercial jets division, its most profitable, to compete directly with Airbus in the market for planes with fewer than 150 seats, reported EuroNews.
“It is a killer acquisition, not a joint venture,” Valporto said in an interview late Wednesday, referring to deals where companies buy smaller rivals to shut them down, an issue troubling competition enforcers on both sides of the Atlantic.
“Embraer airplanes are competitors of Boeing airplanes. What will be left from Embraer won’t survive, and even if it was possible to survive, Embraer wouldn’t be able to produce any aircraft with 50 passengers or more,” Valporto said.
The deal has already been approved by regulators in the United States, China, and Japan.
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