Aerojet-General Corp - New Ventures in the Late 1990s and Beyond

New Ventures in the Late 1990s and Beyond

Aerojet was developing new lines of business in the late 1990s. The company had won contracts to supply fuselage panels for the new F-22 Raptor fighter, but the long-running Peacekeeper missile program was canceled.

Aerojet Fine Chemicals was one of Aerojet's fastest growing new ventures. The unit manufactured chemicals for pharmaceutical companies. By 1999 sales were $45 million a year. In 2000, Aerojet Fine Chemicals was partially merged with Pharbil Technologies, an investor group associated with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Inc. GenCorp bought back ownership of Aerojet Fine Chemicals one year later.

A space propulsion joint venture with United Technologies Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney unit was discussed in 2000 but not consummated (Aerojet's environmental cleanup costs were one factor cited in the press). The rocket-propulsion industry, which then had a half-dozen competitors, was consolidating due to shrinking demand and excess capacity.

In 2001, Northrop Grumman Corporation bought Aerojet's Electronic and Information Systems (EIS) business for $315 million. EIS had 2000 revenues of $323 million, but was considered too small to compete with prime contractors such as Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, and TRW. It employed about 1,350 people, most of them near Los Angeles. EIS was merged into Northrop's Space Systems Division.

In August 2001, Aerojet successfully test fired the world's largest one-piece rocket motor to date. It was built for Lockheed Martin's Atlas V rocket.

A 2,600-acre section of the Rancho Cordova property was removed from Superfund status in 2002 and was slated to be commercially developed. Aerojet sold the Lake Natoma Office Park located on this property in August 2003.