The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigated whether Boeing’s planned acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems could harm competition, but it ultimately cleared the deal. The CMA announced phase 1 clearance on 8 August 2025, published its full decision on 27 August, and closed the case. Its decision found no concerns on any theory of harm.
Why the CMA investigated the Boeing–Spirit deal
Boeing and Spirit were vertically linked: Spirit supplied aerostructures used in Boeing’s large commercial and military aircraft production. The CMA examined whether Boeing’s control of that input might let the merged company restrict supply, raise prices, or worsen quality for rival aircraft manufacturers serving the UK. This possible harm is known as input foreclosure. The inquiry focused on large commercial-aircraft manufacturers and military-aircraft manufacturers supplying the UK.
The CMA opened its merger inquiry on 30 June 2025. Opening an inquiry meant the authority was assessing a potential competition concern; it was not a finding that the deal was anticompetitive. The CMA case page says the inquiry considered whether the transaction could result in a substantial lessening of competition in a UK market.
What the CMA found
Commercial aircraft
The CMA said Spirit’s only other large commercial-aircraft manufacturer customer was Airbus. It assessed the deal on the basis that Boeing would not acquire certain Spirit assets used to produce aircraft for Airbus, because those assets were covered by a separate Airbus transaction. On that basis, the CMA concluded that the merged company could not foreclose Airbus through those assets. It also examined certain inputs used in Airbus aerostructures and found no material foreclosure effect.
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Military aircraft
The CMA found that, during the five years before its decision, Spirit had not supplied aerostructures for non-Boeing UK military-aircraft programmes that were in production and supplying the UK. The Ministry of Defence did not raise concerns during the inquiry. For future development programmes, the CMA relied on evidence that prime contractors either had no concerns or could use alternative suppliers or make components themselves.
Other possible routes to harm
The authority also considered whether the merged company might deprioritise workstreams where Boeing was not active, as well as a supplier’s concern about customer foreclosure. It reasoned that deprioritising such work would reduce revenue, and found that manufacturers’ ability to choose between making components themselves and buying them meant the merger would not materially change Boeing’s sourcing process.
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The CMA’s final decision, signed by Oliver Norden, Director of Mergers, states: “The CMA found no concerns on any theory of harm.” The full decision concludes that the merged company would not have the ability to foreclose commercial-aircraft or military-aircraft manufacturers supplying the UK.
Timeline and current status
- 26 June 2025: The CMA first published its case page and opened an invitation to comment.
- 30 June 2025: The CMA launched its merger inquiry.
- 8 August 2025: The CMA announced phase 1 clearance.
- 27 August 2025: The CMA published its full decision and closed the case.
- 8 December 2025: Boeing announced that the acquisition had completed. Boeing said Belfast operations would operate as Short Brothers, a Boeing Company, and that the Prestwick Aerospace Innovation Centre team would transfer into Boeing. These are details from Boeing’s completion announcement.
How the UK decision differs from the later US outcome
The UK and US authorities reached distinct outcomes under their own processes. The CMA’s UK phase 1 review cleared the anticipated acquisition without referring it to phase 2 and found no competition concerns. The US Federal Trade Commission later finalized a consent order requiring Boeing to divest significant Spirit assets and continue supplying aerostructures and services to competing military-aircraft contractors. The FTC said the order addressed allegations concerning Airbus’s access to inputs and rival military contractors’ access to Spirit products and technologies. The FTC’s consent-order announcement describes that US remedy; it was not imposed by the CMA and should not be read as the UK regulator’s conclusion.
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