Actually, Stonecipher bragged about the move in an AvWeek interview.
He said he gave the civil helicopter guys three years to make money.
When they didn't, he sold 'em.

The explanation from Mesa at the time of the divestituture was the
big-shots at Boeing did not want to waste their time selling one or two
MD500s or MDExplorers piecemeal to police departments or hospitals.
They saw themselves as global players moving 50 747s in a single order.
A 20-year Apache or Chinook program was worthy of their efforts.

Lost on such Captains of Industry is the fact that the civil and
military sides of the helicopter business are closely connected.
Suddenly, the Army wants 368 Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters, and
Boeing has no air vehicle. The decision also gave Eurocopter global
market share it might not have otherwise gained.

I do hope this works out because the MDHI product line is such a good
one. I suspect a Little-Bird based ARH would be a better combat
helicopter than an upgraded Bell 407.

HW