Precision Castparts Buys Titanium Metals For $2.9B

The Associated Press

Precision Castparts Corp. is buying Titanium Metals Corp. in a deal worth roughly $2.9 billion, the companies announced Friday.

Precision, based in Portland, Ore., will pay $16.50 per share in cash for the Dallas-based titanium melted and milled products company, a 44 percent premium to the company's closing stock on Thursday.

"Timet will provide us with the titanium capability that has always been a key missing piece of our overall product portfolio," Mark Donegan, CEO of Precision Castparts said in a statement.

The deal will allow Precision Castparts to streamline its supply chain and better manage its input costs in core operations. Donegan said that the addition will also help the company as it tries to grow in the aerostructure market that Titanium Metals works with.

Timet, with production facilities in the U.S. and Europe, supplies nearly one-fifth of the world's titanium. The metal is in demand among commercial aerospace manufacturers for jet engine components and airframe structures because it reduces weight and increases fuel efficiency.

The news sent shares of Titanium Metals up more than 40 percent in after-hours trading. Precision's shares increased 5 percent.

Precision and Timet have worked together for a number of years. As a result, Donegan expects the integration of the business to move quickly once the transaction closes, which is expected by year-end.

Titanium Metals' primary stockholder, Valhi Inc., a unit of Contran Corp., has agreed to tender its shares. It holds more than half of the company's outstanding stock. The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies.

Precision expects the acquisition will add to its earnings immediately. It is financing the deal with a combination of cash on hand and debt.

Titanium Metals also said Friday that it earned $18.6 million, or 11 cents per share, in the third quarter. That is down from $25 million, or 14 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Both quarters include a charge of 1 cent per share for deferred income tax.

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