Boeing’s path is now clear to acquire US-based aerostructure manufacturer Spirit AeroSystems, after Spirit’s shareholders approved the purchase agreement on Friday, according to a statement released on Friday. The acquisition is expected to close by mid-2025, subject to regulatory approvals. We first heard back in June that Boeing was set to make a USD 4.7 bn acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems through an all-stock purchase at USD 37.25 a share, with Boeing taking on Spirit’s reported net debt.

A hail mary for Boeing? Integrating Spirit is expected to stabilize Boeing's supply chain and enhance its aircraft production capabilities as well as quell US aviation regulators’ concerns about the company’s manufacturing blunders.

REMEMBER- Spirit received up to USD 350 mn from Boeing and up to USD 107 mn from Airbus in advance payments to help it stay afloat back in November, as it continued to burn through cash after four consecutive years of losses.

German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd’s transport volumes surged 5% y-o-y to 12.5 mn TEUs in 2024, despite security concerns in the Red Sea causing ships to reroute to around the Cape of Good Hope, suffering longer voyage times, according to a preliminary earnings release (pdf) published on Thursday. The firm saw its topline come in at USD 20.7 bn, a 6.7% increase from the previous year by our calculation, which it attributed to stronger demand for container transportation and a stable average freight rate — at about USD 1.5k per TEU — last year. Hapag-Lloyd will release its audited full financial figures for the last fiscal year on 20 March.

Two Chinese firms to construct railway between Tanzania + Burundi: Tanzania has inked a USD 2.15 bn agreement with China Railway Engineering Group and China Railway Engineering Design and Consulting Group to build a railway linking Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam Port to a nickel mine in landlocked neighbor Burundi, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. The 282 km standard gauge railway would facilitate exports of Burundi’s nickel and critical minerals and boost cross-border trade between the two East African countries. The project is forecasted to transport around 3 mn metric tons of minerals annually, Reuters reported.

Who’s involved? The initiative is part of the joint Tanzania, Burundi, and DR Congo Standard Gauge Railway project, which looks to construct 651 km rail connecting the countries, according to a statement from the project’s financial backer African Development Bank (AfDB).

Not the first rail venture: China, Zambia, and Tanzania inked an initial agreement back in September to revive a decades-old railway plan in a bid to enhance rail-sea transportation in East Africa. The MoU would see China refurbish the 1.8k km Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) railway, which offers a cargo transport route from landlocked Zambia’s copper and cobalt mines to the sea on Tanzania's coast that bypasses South Africa and the former state of Rhodesia.

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING THIS MORNING-

  • Boeing taps Lufthansa for 777X debut: German carrier Lufthansa is set to be the first airline to operate Boeing’s 777X, with deliveries expected in 2026. (Statement)
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