BUSINESS NEWS
11 Sep 08. Engineering firm in £1bn US deal. A Scottish engineering group has bought an entire section of a top US firm in a £1bn deal. Clyde Blowers has secured four pumping, gearing and hydraulics businesses from Textron, one of the world’s largest multi-industry companies. The acquisition was partly funded by private equity, the Bank of Scotland, Barclays, HSBC and RBS. Clyde Blowers owner Jim McColl said the deal had taken a bit of work but proved the company’s global pedigree. The companies bought by Clyde Blowers were:
• Maag Pumps systems, based in Switzerland
• David Brown Gear Systems, based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
• David Brown Hydraulics, based in Poole, Dorset
• Union Pumps, based in Michigan, US. (Source: BBC)
18 Sep 08. Saab (SAABb.ST: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) expects profits in 2008 to rise by between 8 and 9 percent, with a global slowing of the aeronautics industry hurting the company’s growth, a senior official said on Thursday. “Our (long-term) target for Saab is to grow 5 percent organic and a profit of 10 percent, but we are saying for 2008 it’s growth of 3 to 4 percent and a profit of 8-9 percent,” Dan-Ake Enstedt, the company’s executive vice president told journalists attending the Africa Aerospace and Defence exhibition outside Cape Town. (Source: Google/Reuters)
12 Sep 08. Compagnie Européene d’Intelligence Stratégique, a consulting company, has bought for an undisclosed amount a 34 percent stake in Areion, a French specialist publisher in defense and international affairs, the two companies said in a Sept. 10 statement. “The investment, in a period of strong growth (30 percent a year) for our group, will allow us to pursue our development, particularly internationally,” said Areion’s founder and publisher, Alexis Bautzmann. The company publishes the magazines Diplomatie and Défense & Sécurité Internationale, and provides consulting services to institutions and large companies. Areion has estimated 2008 sales of €2m ($2.8m). “This is a new opportunity for our company to participate in development of an editorial sector, which is strategic in France and Europe, and which remains largely dominated by large British and American groups,” said CEIS Chairman Olivier Darrason. The two groups hope to contribute to geostrategic debate in France and abroad. CEIS has forecast 2008 sales of €12m. (Source: Defense News)
09 Sep 08. iRobot Pushes Into Ocean Technology With Nekton Acquisition. iRobot has acquired Durham, N.C.-based Nekton Research, a maker of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), for $10m and an additional $5m based on performance. Nekton’s 20-pound, torpedo-shaped Ranger UUV can be used for “search and survey” missions and to deliver a “mine neutralizing charge” payload. Nekton also makes UUVs that can take water samples as well as highly maneuverable finned UUVs and high-speed UUVs. Its customers include the Office of Naval Research, the Environmental Protection Agency and Naval Undersea Warfare Command. The acquisition will allow for the commercial production of the Ranger UUV by late 2009, according Nekton CEO Rick Vosburgh, who will become chief of iRobot’s maritime system unit. (Source: AUVSI)
19 Sep 08. Oracle’s Net Rises 28%. Oracle Corp. reported a 28% jump in its quarterly profit, and said it doesn’t expect to be hurt by the meltdown among financial-service companies. The software giant’s numbers and its executives’ comments were regarded as a reassuring sign that conditions in the business-software market aren’t as bad as some feared. But Oracle also reported lower sales for one closely watched class of software, suggesting some companies are putting new technology projects on hold amid widening economic jitters. (Source: WSJ)
09 Sep 08. QinetiQ Group: Sale of MoD’s Shares. The Defence Equipment Minister announced (9 Sep 08) the sale of the MoD’s remaining ordinary shares at a price of 206 pence per share. 124,885,445 ordinary s