Spirit AeroSystems stock gains after report it’s near deal with Boeing

Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE:SPR) rose 6.6% in after hours trading after a report that it’s close to a deal to be sold to Boeing (NYSE:BA).

A deal is close after Spirit (SPR) made substantial progress in separate talks with Airbus (OTCPK:EADSF), according to a Reuters report on Thursday, which cited people familiar with the matter. The exact timing of a deal is unclear, though it could happen within days or weeks.

Airbus (OTCPK:EADSF) is seeing “good progress” in talks with Spirit (SPR), Reuters said, citing one source familiar with the matter. Another source told the newswire that a deal with Airbus over the Spirit (SPR) assets would likely occur before Airbus’s mid-year earnings next month.

Boeing (BA) has said it’s interested in acquiring Spirit (SPR) as part of a broader effort to improve product safety. Such a transaction is complicated because Spirit (SPR), which Boeing (BA) spun out as a separate company in 2005, is a supplier to Airbus (OTCPK:EADSF), the European archrival to Boeing (BA).

Late last month, Boeing (BA) Chief Financial Officer Brian West said that he believed that a Spirit (SPR) could get signed in the second quarter.

“In terms of the timing, I still believe that we could get something done in the second get something signed in the second quarter, but it’s large and it’s complex, and we’re not going to rush to get a deal don,” West said at Wolfe Research Global Transportation & Industrials conference last month. “We need to take the time.”