BUSINESS NEWS
03 Dec 07. Ultra announces the acquisition of BCF Designs Ltd for a cash consideration, subject to net asset adjustment on completion, of £12.5m. BCF specialises in the design and production of electronic test solutions for the military and civil aerospace markets. Its customers include the UK MoD, the US DoD and many other defence agencies worldwide together with commercial customers such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems. BCF’s niche areas of activity include customised equipment to test aircraft fuel systems, avionic data bus networks and protective filters for electronic systems. The test equipment is able to test many aircraft types and BCF also supplies the interconnecting wiring harnesses which are tailored to suit specific variants of each aircraft. In addition, BCF provides a full range of customer training, equipment calibration and support services. BCF, established in 1992, employs forty people in Cirencester, UK and four at its marketing and support centre in Virginia, US. Organisationally, BCF will be part of Ultra’s Electrics business which is based in Cheltenham within the Group’s Aircraft & Vehicle Systems division. The acquisition of BCF will be financed using Ultra’s existing banking facilities and is expected to be accretive to earnings in 2008.
29 Nov 07. Italy’s Finmeccanica announced plans Nov. 29 for a takeover of U.K. defense, aerospace and government services firm Vega. The cash takeover bid of 280 pence per share for Vega, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, is worth approximately £61.6m ($127.3m), Finmeccanica said. “The offer — which was considered fair and adequate by Vega’s directors, who recommended unanimously that shareholders accept it, and also confirmed that they would irrevocably tender their shares in acceptance — is conditional upon sufficient acceptance of the offer as will allow Finmeccanica to buy more than 90 percent of Vega’s shares, notwithstanding Finmeccanica’s right to waive this condition if acceptance exceeds 50 percent of the share capital,” Finmeccanica said in a statement. “The transaction is subject to the approval of the regulatory authorities as well as the undertaking, as has happened in the past for acquisitions of U.K. defense companies, of specific commitments with the U.K. authorities designed to protect national security,” the statement said.
Finmeccanica said it would fund the acquisition by drawing on available lines of credit, and that it intends to delist the company if at least 75 percent of Vega’s share capital is tendered in acceptance. If acceptance totals at least 90 percent of the capital, it plans to exercise the squeeze-out option.
Vega provides engineering and technology consulting services, as well as simulation and training, particularly in the United Kingdom and Germany. The main programs in which Vega is involved include Eurofighter, the Galileo system, Network Enable Capability and Watchkeeper. (Source: Defense News)
04 Dec 07. BrahMos will set the takeover-process of Kerala PSU Keltec (Kerala Hitec Industries rolling this week. Chief of BrahMos and Chief Controller of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) A Sivathanu Pillai and T Balakrishnan, Principal Secretary (Industries), Kerala government will sign a deed document to this effect on Wednesday. The Centre has cleared the proposed takeover of Keltec by BrahMos Aerospace for the design, manufacturing and integration of supersonic cruise missiles, a release from Kerala industry minister’s office has announced. The new entity will be renamed as BrahMos Aerospace (T) Ltd. BrahMos is a joint venture of government of India and Russian government with majority stake by Indian government through the DRDO. (Source: Google)
28 Nov 07. Navistar International Corp., the U.S. truckmaker that hasn’t filed financial reports since 2005, jumped 6.7 percent after it said 2009 pre-tax income will exceed $1bn. The shares gained the most in three month