BAE wins government approval to buy Ball Aerospace

BAE Systems announced this morning that it has received regulatory approval to buy Ball Corp.'s Ball Aerospace business unit for $5.5 billion.

"BAE Systems and Ball Corp. will be executing the plan to complete the acquisition in the coming days," according to a BAE statement.

The two companies originally announced the deal last August.

"The newly acquired business will be called Space & Mission Systems and will map within the Electronic Systems reporting segment," BAE said.

BAE Systems CEO Charles Woodburn said in the announcement: "The addition of this quality, fast-growing technology-focused business will significantly expand our presence in this increasingly critical space domain and further enhances our value compounding model of top line growth, margin expansion and high cash generation."