Grundman cited in Defense News, “Harris Completes Speedy Exelis Acquisition”
“One reason the acquisition proceeded so smoothly, analysts said, was the lack of any major anti-trust issues that might have given government regulators a reason to take a closer look at the deal. ‘There were no show-stoppers in the government’s merger review that I could see,’ said Steven Grundman, a former Pentagon industrial policy chief and now the principal of Grundman Advisory. ‘As similar-looking as these companies may have been, their offerings and capabilities are more complementary than overlapping.’ . . . Harris will benefit from incorporating experienced engineers and project managers from Exelis, but it is difficult to quantify how much value these additions will generate, Grundman said. ‘Particularly at this advanced stage in the downturn of defense spending, there’s not a lot of headcount slack in defense companies,’ he said. ‘Together, they now really do have a full scope of C4ISR capabilities. Independently, each had some holes in its respective ability to address C4ISR opportunities. Having said that, it’s maddeningly hard to know the value of such economies of scope, though I’m certain there is some.'”
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