GE Aerospace Agrees to Buy Consolidated Precision Products for $11.75 Billion

GE Aerospace agreed to acquire Consolidated Precision Products for $11.75 billion in cash, giving the engine maker control of a major supplier of precision castings used across commercial aviation and defense programs. GE announced the acquisition on September 8 and said it expects the purchase to close in the second half of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

The target, commonly known as CPP, makes highly engineered airfoils, structural castings and other components from superalloys, titanium and other metals. GE has bought parts from CPP for more than 15 years, and CPP already supplies programs including LEAP, GEnx, T700, F110 and F404 engines. That existing supplier relationship makes the acquisition as much a capacity and manufacturing move as a financial one.

GE puts $11.75 billion behind casting capacity

Under the agreement announced by GE Aerospace, the company will pay $11.75 billion to acquire CPP from private investment firms Warburg Pincus and Berkshire Partners. GE plans to finance $7 billion of the purchase price with cash and fund the remainder with new debt. Its Form 8-K says the cash purchase price is subject to closing adjustments.

GE’s valuation is based partly on earnings and cost improvements it expects after ownership changes hands. The company said the purchase price represents about 18 times estimated 2027 EBITDA when expected net synergies are included, compared with about 26 times without those synergies. An investor presentation filed with the SEC puts expected net synergies at roughly $200 million and says GE is targeting a double-digit return on invested capital by the fifth year.

Management expects the acquisition to increase adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow in the first year after closing, excluding one-time costs and deal-related amortization. Those are forecasts rather than guaranteed results. GE’s presentation says it expects productivity improvements from higher yield and machine utilization, less scrap and rework, and a more streamlined supply chain, while the synergy estimate is net of planned capital and operating investments.

The size of the financing is notable against GE’s current balance sheet, although the 2027 closing timetable means its liquidity position can change substantially before the cash is due. At June 30, GE reported $10.3 billion of liquidity, consisting of $9.3 billion of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash plus $1.0 billion of time deposits with maturities longer than three months. Total borrowings were $19.2 billion. GE said the CPP purchase does not change its existing capital-allocation plans.

Those plans sit alongside a business that has been generating more cash as aerospace demand rises. GE reported $13.3 billion of second-quarter revenue, up 21% from a year earlier, and $3.3 billion of cash from operating activities for the quarter. Free cash flow, a company-defined non-GAAP measure, was $3.0 billion, up 43%. The company had also repurchased $2.0 billion of shares during the second quarter under its existing authorization.

CPP already sits deep inside GE’s engine supply chain

CPP is headquartered in Cleveland and traces its history to 1991. Warburg Pincus acquired the company in 2011, and Berkshire Partners became a co-majority owner in 2019. Over that period CPP expanded through acquisitions and new facilities, building capabilities in investment casting, precision sand casting, titanium components and advanced airfoil manufacturing.

GE estimates that CPP will generate about $2.0 billion of revenue in 2027. Roughly 60% is expected to come from commercial aerospace, with defense and power or other markets each accounting for about 20%. Around 70% of revenue is tied to commercial and defense engines, with the remainder primarily connected to missiles and power applications. GE’s deal materials put CPP’s workforce at about 6,600 employees across more than 20 facilities globally.

The products are difficult-to-make pieces that sit in demanding parts of aircraft engines and other systems. CPP says its casting technologies support directionally solidified and single-crystal airfoils as well as large structural and turbine components. In commercial aerospace, its portfolio includes hot-section rotating components such as blades and vanes, along with structural castings used throughout engines and airframes. The company also serves military aircraft, weapons systems and industrial gas turbines.

That manufacturing footprint matters because GE expects its own demand for airfoils, measured by number of parts, to rise by more than 30% between 2026 and 2030. Engine makers have been trying to lift production while maintaining quality and improving the availability of components that can constrain output. GE said owning CPP would give it additional mission-critical casting capacity while it continues to rely on other suppliers as well.

The acquisition also reaches beyond near-term production. GE said it wants to connect its engine design work more closely with casting manufacturing as it develops enhanced airfoil technology for current and next-generation engines. Its presentation points to work intended to support cooler engine temperatures, durability and efficiency, with the technology applicable to engines such as LEAP as well as future platforms. The company expects tighter design and manufacturing coordination, including the use of connected data and artificial intelligence, to shorten development cycles and improve readiness when new technologies enter production.

CPP is not a captive GE supplier today. Warburg Pincus says the business has relationships with other major aerospace and defense customers, and GE said it intends to use the ownership model it has applied to businesses such as Avio Aero, Unison and Dowty, which continue serving external customers. That distinction matters because CPP’s value to GE depends partly on preserving a broad customer base while increasing output for GE programs.

Regulatory review and execution stretch into 2027

The acquisition is scheduled to close in the second half of 2027 rather than immediately. GE’s September 8 Form 8-K states that completion is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. The company has not presented the announced closing window as certain, and its filings caution that timing, structure, approvals and expected benefits remain subject to risks that could cause actual results to differ from current forecasts.

Between signing and closing, GE will still need to manage a supplier that supports its own engines as well as competing aerospace programs. The company said it plans incremental capital investment in CPP over time and expects to create additional jobs as it deploys FLIGHT DECK, GE’s proprietary lean operating model, across the business. GE has framed those investments around higher output and manufacturing performance rather than simply extracting costs from CPP.

For sellers Warburg Pincus and Berkshire Partners, the agreement would end a long private-equity ownership period if the regulatory process is completed. For GE, the larger question is whether owning a critical casting supplier can translate the projected capacity gains and roughly $200 million of net synergies into the first-year earnings and cash-flow accretion management is forecasting. The next concrete milestone is the regulatory review process, with GE still targeting a second-half 2027 closing.