07 Jun 11. It has taken four years to get there, but a definitive agreement on asset swaps between Safran and Thales, the French defence groups, may finally be at hand. Although neither company has gone as far as Charles Edelstenne – the chief executive of Dassault Aviation and Thales’ second-largest shareholder, who recently announced that an agreement between the two had been achieved “in principle” – it is clear that the latest round of talks has proved more fruitful than before. “This year it’s a discussion in which each company accepts the idea of giving leadership to the other so they are better,” Luc Vigneron, Thales chief executive, commented recently. “We are in a positive context.” It may also be the wider landscape of squeezed European defence budgets, that has leant fresh urgency to co-operation as companies look for synergies and the opportunities to gain critical mass on international markets. “This takes place at a time when everyone is aware, industry and the government, about the future budgetary constraints,” Mr Vigneron acknowledges, emphasising that the impetus has come as much from within the two groups as from the French government, their majority shareholder. (Source: FT.com)

03 Jun 11. Moog Inc. (NYSE:MOG.A – News) (NYSE:MOG.B – News) has acquired Crossbow Technology Inc.. Crossbow, headquartered in Milpitas, CA, is a designer and manufacturer of acceleration sensors that are integrated into inertial navigation and guidance systems. The products are used in a variety of aerospace, defense and transportation applications. The purchase price is approximately $32m, net of Crossbow’s cash balances.
“Crossbow’s innovative use of MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) based technology in their advanced sensing products will complement Moog’s established controls business and allow us to offer more comprehensive solutions to many of our existing customers,” said Warren Johnson, President of Moog’s Aircraft Group. Crossbow had 2010 revenues of $13m. The acquisition is expected to add approximately $5m to Moog’s sales for the remaining four months of the 2011 fiscal year. This acquisition is expected to be neutral to Moog’s earnings per share for the year ending October 1, 2011. (Source: Yahoo!/Marketwire)

06 Jun 11. MCR, LLC, a premier provider of integrated program management services to the federal government, has acquired JB&A, INC., a company that provides strategic planning, programming and budgeting, manpower analytical support and other professional services to U.S. government agencies. The JB&A acquisition will enable MCR to expand its strategic planning, acquisition support, and program management services, while providing new opportunities to serve both Intelligence and Defense clients. Founded in 1988 by James V. Benvenuto, JB&A is a leading expert in Department of Defense (DOD) Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution (PPBE), the Department of the Army Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution System (PPBES) and the National Intelligence Program. Its broad range of expertise and services also include organizational analysis and force management, intelligence and information technology, automated decision support system application design, and strategic planning architectures. JB&A’s customers include a broad range of Department of Defense and US Intelligence Community agencies and activities in the National Capital Region as well as Arizona, Colorado and Florida. The company has its main office in Falls Church, VA, and nearly all of its employees have high-level security clearances. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)

03 Jun 11. ALAS Holdings International – (Pink Sheets:VDSC – News) announced today that it has filed its Quarterly report for the three month and nine months periods ending March 31, 2011. All necessary filings have been completed with OTC Markets to bring the company to a “current” status, which should be reflected within 3 to 5 business days. The delay in the quarterly rele