Jeff Bezos-owned space company Blue Origin and private equity firm Cerberus have made bids for United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Some people familiar with the matter said ULA has also drawn interest from aerospace and defense contractor Textron (NYSE: TXT).
According to estimates by financial services company Jefferies, the Boeing-Lockheed joint venture could be worth between $2 billion and $3 billion in a potential sale.
ULA has completed more than 155 launch missions and its parent companies are planning to divest it as the launch services provider pushes to discontinue and replace its Atlas V and Delta IV vehicles with a new rocket called Vulcan Centaur, which is set for its maiden launch on Jan. 8.
Tory Bruno, CEO of ULA and a previous Wash100 awardee, told reporters that the company had booked 70 flights for the new Vulcan rocket, according to WSJ.
