A Boeing 737 MAX sits outside the hangar during a media tour of the Boeing 737 MAX at the Boeing plant in Renton, Washington.
REUTERS/Matt Mills McKnight
Private equity giant Carlyle Group in recent weeks paused the sale of an engine-parts maker because of uncertainty about the Boeing 737 Max, which has been grounded for nearly a year, according to people familiar with the matter.
Paradigm Precision, which Carlyle has been growing for about a decade, didn’t attract high enough bids as the private equity firm had hoped because of the 737 Max crisis, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the discussions were private.
One of the top bids was more than $1 billion, according to one of the people. Paradigm counts General Electric and United Technologies among its customers.
The delayed sale is the latest impact from of the 737 Max’s grounding, which has impacted other deals. Stanley Black & Decker last month said it reached a deal to acquire Boeing supplier Consolidated Aerospace Manufacturing for up to $1.5 billion, but said $200 million would be held back “contingent on the Boeing 737 Max receiving FAA authorization to return to service and Boeing achieving certain production levels.”
The plane has been grounded since March after two fatal crashes killed all 346 people aboard the flights.
Boeing suspended production of the jetliners — its best-selling plane — last month. It is not clear exactly when the 737 Max will fly again, but Boeing last month said it expects regulators to sign off on the planes midyear.