28 Sep 11. Thales has acquired 100% of the capital of Omnisys, a Brazilian company headquartered in São Bernardo do Campo, near São Paulo. “Brazil is strategically important for Thales. We are proud that Omnisys, as the industrial arm of Thales in Brazil, is already part of our network of R&D centres of excellence and is assuming a key role in the development of the entire Group,” said Laurent Mourre, Thales Country Director for Brazil. Established in 1997, Omnisys was the first Brazilian electronic engineering company to supply high-tech solutions for civil, military and space applications not only to the Brazilian market but also to other countries in Latin America, Europe and Asia.
“Omnisys is already part of the Thales global supply chain. The company will manage transfers of technology for the major programmes that are due to be launched in Brazil in the coming years. Our strategy of transferring technology, establishing a local industrial base and involving local partners in R&D is fully aligned with the Brazilian government’s investment policy,” added Mourre.

28 Sep 11. Babcock, the defence and security services group, hopes to profit from an increase in outsourcing, as government departments such as the Ministry of Defence seek to cut costs. Speaking in the wake of BAE Systems’ decision to axe 3,000 jobs as a result of defence cuts, Peter Rogers, chief executive of Babcock, said there were “significant opportunities” within the MoD.“The MoD is about to start outsourcing in a big way,” Mr Rogers said. “Despite the fact that the RAF, the navy and the army will be a bit smaller, there’s still around £13.5bn ($21bn) a year spent on support functions and we think we can cut that,” he said. About two-thirds of Babcock’s revenue comes from the MoD, leaving the group heavily exposed to defence cutbacks. But almost all the work relates to services such as submarine maintenance rather than equipment delivery, which is more vulnerable to cuts. (Source: FT.com)

30 Sep 11. Work for McLaren’s new supercar and Jaguar Land Rover, as well as the start of production of the Foxhound armoured vehicle for the UK Defence Ministry, helped to lift revenues at Ricardo by 21 per cent in the year to June 30. The engineering consultancy’s pre-tax profits jumped from £10.8m to £15.4m, and the total dividend has been increased 7 per cent to 11½p. Dave Shemmans, chief executive, said the increase in revenues came from around the world, some of it from the first tranche of multiyear programmes, and the order book was being maintained above £100m. The global automotive industry was returning to outsourcing as it continued to face increasing legislation on emissions, and world instability was driving the defence sector. Consensus forecasts are for pre-tax profits of £16.5m this year and RBS, the company broker, said the return to net cash, the reduced pension deficit and strong order book leave the company well placed to deliver growth. (Source: FT.com)

29 Sep 11. Airbus, an EADS (EUR:EAD) subsidiary, announced that all of conditions for completion of the offer by Airbus Denmark Holding ApS to acquire the shares of Satair A/S (NASDAQ OMX:SAT), a Danish company listed on the NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen, have been satisfied. The Offer price was DKK 580 in cash per share. At the expiry of the Offer, Airbus DK has received valid acceptances representing approximately 96.7% of the shares of Satair on a fully-diluted basis. The acquisition of Satair will help Airbus to strengthen its service business, which is a key element of the EADS Vision 2020. Consistent with this strategy, this acquisition facilitates the growth of Airbus’ Material Management division and is an opportunity to develop new services through the combined entity in both the civil and governmental markets. Completion of the offer will enable Airbus to capitalize on its own commercial network together with Satair’s offering and distribution capabilities in order to position itself as a