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Byline: Editorial Staff

Lawmakers Condemn ATK Plant Closure While the defense space boasts less cyclicality, deal pros realize that comes at a price. Alliant Techsystems (ATK), following its acquisition of Eagle Industries in the last week of March, is paying that price as it deals with legislators unhappy about the company's actions following the purchase.

In the deal, Alliant paid an estimated $100 million for the Fenton, Missouri-company, a maker of tactical accessories for the military, law enforcement and recreational markets.

In the last week of May, Alliant said it would close a New Bedford, Mass.-based textile plant, moving the manufacturing to an existing facility in Puerto Rico. US Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, and Representative Barney Frank responded with a letter calling for the US Army to "insist" that any contract extension be contingent on the New Bedford plant staying open.

The letter suggested that Alliant was motivated to close the facility after attempts to organize the plant's workforce. Moreover, the letter questioned the possible risk of reducing "the domestic apparel industrial base" that serves military personnel. The legislators also played up the populism angle, saying the acquisition and subsequent closure was done solely to help Alliant "obtain higher profit margins out of an...

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