Home > International Directory of Company Histories > Aerojet-General Corp - Major Acquisitions in 2002 and 2003

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Major Acquisitions in 2002 and 2003

Aerojet made a couple of acquisitions that together doubled its size. In late 2002, it paid $93 million for General Dynamics' Ordnance and Tactical Systems Space Propulsion and Fire Suppression unit, based in Redmond, Washington, which employed 300 people and had sales of about $60 million a year. Renamed Aerojet Redmond after the acquisition, this company had been founded in 1968 as Rocket Research. It specialized in small thrusters used to guide satellites in space.

The space propulsion business of Atlantic Research Corp. (ARC) was acquired in the summer of 2003 for $133 million. ARC's propulsion unit had sales of $150 million a year and 900 employees. The addition of the two programs expanded Aerojet's range of offerings, including more rockets for the Space Shuttle program. Aerojet was also involved in the propulsion systems behind the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Aerojet's profits slipped 2.3 percent to $43 million in 2003 as revenues rose 18 percent to $321 million.

1. Introduction
2. World War II Origins
3. Closing the Missile Gap
4. Space Race and Vietnam
5. Booming in the Reagan Era
6. 1990s Cutbacks
7. New Ventures in the Late 1990s and Beyond
8. Major Acquisitions in 2002 and 2003
9. Principal Divisions
10. Principal Competitors
11. Further Reading
12. Copyright Page
13. About Page