I'm not surprised Boeing was willing to pay that much to buy Embraer's commercial department. Those who have flown the Ejets both as operating crew as well as passengers love the aircraft. It's a lot more advanced than the 737NG, uses FBW technology and its systems are far more sophisticated than the 73 which was first designed in the 1960's. The price Boeing is willing to pay to buy Embraer's technology would probably be less than if they had to start from scratch and build something completely new that was capable of competing with Airbus's A220. Let's face it, Airbus FBW aircraft are generations ahead of the 737NG. I wouldn't be surprised if Boeing builds upon Embraer's E2 generation Ejets and comes up with a bigger version that can replace the 737 altogether.