WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Treasury Department will ask for an equity stake in publicly traded national security contractors, including some defense firms, that seek part of $17 billion set aside for them in coronavirus relief funds.
According to a loan application posted on the Treasury website late Thursday, companies with a Top Secret clearance working for the U.S. government and others with contracts related to the defense production act should submit a loan request by May 1.
The Pentagon has been working to shore up finances among defense contractors that may have seen a fall-off in their non-defense business as quarantining to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus has halted much of the U.S. economy.
The loan application says that "to receive a loan, each borrower must provide the Treasury Department with appropriate
financial instruments."