U.S. antitrust officials clear Woodward, Hexcel merger

FORT COLLINS — Woodward Inc. (Nasdaq: WWD) and Hexcel Corp. (NYSE: HXL) are a step closer to merging into a $6 billion company after U.S. regulators signed off on the deal.

Employees were notified of the ruling in an internal message this week before the companies filed public disclosures to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday.

Woodward and Connecticut-based Hexcel announced their planned merger in January, with plans to base the newly formed Woodward-Hexcel in Fort Collins. Woodward CEO Tom Gendron would serve as the combined company’s board chairman for a year before retiring, while Hexcel CEO Nick Stanage is slated to become its leader.

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The merger was approved via the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission’s Premerger Notification Program, used by companies to notify federal regulators about large-scale combinations before they’re announced to the public and begin determining if a merger would cause unfair competition within an industry.

Woodward director of investor relations Don Guzzardo previously told BizWest that the companies didn’t expect a long antitrust review period, despite the heavy national-security scrutiny that often follows aerospace-industry combinations.

Woodward and Hexcel also said they began integration planning for the merger’s closing, which is expected by the end of the third quarter of 2020.

In a separate filing, Woodward said it anticipates “consolidation of our corporate staffs,” but will offer severance packages to any employee whose job would be cut 24 months after the merger closes.

Representatives for Woodward and Hexcel did not respond to requests for comment Friday afternoon.