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Northrop examines options
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April 17, 2000: 5:20 p.m. ET
Aerospace firm says it is exploring alternatives for jet parts unit
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Aerospace manufacturer Northrop Grumman Corp. announced on Monday that it is exploring strategic alternatives regarding its $1.4 billion aircraft parts unit, and that it is discussing those alternatives with several interested parties.
The company also said it hired investment firm Salomon Smith Barney to assist in researching alternatives.
Jim Taft, a spokesman for the Los Angeles-based manufacturer of 747 fuselages and AWACS radar systems, declined to confirm or deny earlier reports that the privately owned Carlyle Group was one of parties interested in buying the unit.
 Sales at the commercial aerostructures unit, which is responsible for constructing most of the fuselage for the 747 jet as well as aircraft doors and stabilizers, have been declining in recent years. Yet it remains the largest chunk of the diverse company.
The sector that includes the jet parts unit along with other manufacturing units, raked in $5.7 billion of the total $9 billion in sales the company posted last year. The jet parts manufacturing business alone brought in $1.4 billion in sales.
Just under half the company's 45,000 employees work for the manufacturing sector.
Cai von Rumohr, an analyst with S.G. Cowen Securities, said in a research note that selling the unit to Carlyle would be a good strategic sale. He estimated that the sale of the unit would generate about $700 million in cash and provide Northrop needed financial flexibility.
Shares of Northrop (NOC: Research, Estimates) rose 4-3/8 to close at 63-13/16 on the New York Stock Exchange Monday. 
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Northrop Grumman
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