Rumor: Boeing Considers Purchase of Mercury Systems - Boeing (NYSE:BA), Mercury Sys (NASDAQ:MRCY)

was first to report on Friday that

BoeingBA

is considering an acquisition of

Mercury SystemsMRCY

, a supplier of digital signal and image processing systems. Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter, noted that Boeing could save costs and increase its presence in the commercial aerospace components space. Mercury Systems already offers data processing systems, software and services to Boeing as well of some of its competitors. Perhaps, more interestingly Boeing is eyeing Mercury Systems' microprocessor business, which can be used on unmanned aerial vehicles. Rumors of a Boeing acquisition should not come as a complete surprise. On March 18,

The Wall Street Journal reported that Mercury Systems is in the early stages of a sale process and has hired the services of Evercore Partners for a sale. Shares of Mercury Systems surged more than 19 percent on March 18 as the company placed its selling price tag at around $500 million. As of Friday afternoon, Mercury Systems' market cap stood around $460 million. Peter Arment of Sterne Agee commented on Friday and noted that a potential takeout could be in the $15 to $19 a share range. Despite a fresh round of rumors, Arment did not make any changes to his Neutral rating.

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