A U.S. budget agreement making its way through Congress could set off the most robust series of mergers and acquisitions in the aerospace and defense sectors in years, industry leaders and experts say.
The two-year agreement is expected to reassure contractors on government spending and unleash pent-up demand for deals, according to analysts.
The budget deal will halve the $52 billion in automatic spending cuts facing the Pentagon in fiscal 2014 and would lower mandatory reductions in projected spending in 2015.
“It gives our customers in the U.S. government further certainty for their budget decisions,” Marillyn Hewson, chief executive of Lockheed Martin Corp, said in an interview with Reuters.
“It does give us more certainty and helps us in our planning process,” she said, noting that the company is always looking for acquisitions to tap new markets or round out existing business areas.
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