19 Dec 11. General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) announced the successful completion of its tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Force Protection, Inc. (NASDAQ: FRPT), for a price of $5.52 per share in cash. The offer and withdrawal rights expired, as scheduled, on Friday, December 16, 2011. The tender offer was launched on November 18, following the announcement on November 7 that General Dynamics and Force Protection had reached agreement on the terms of a merger agreement. The acquisition of Force Protection is expected to be accretive to General Dynamics’ earnings in 2012. As of December 16, approximately 51.7 million shares of Force Protection common stock, including approximately 3.7 million shares subject to guaranteed delivery procedures, were validly tendered and not withdrawn in the offer. That amount represents approximately 81.7 percent of the outstanding shares of Force Protection common stock. General Dynamics accepted for payment the shares through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Falcon Acquisition Corp. General Dynamics will now exercise a “top up” option, as described in the Offer to Purchase, which will result in General Dynamics owning at least 90% of the outstanding shares of Force Protection. Once the top-up option is exercised, General Dynamics intends to complete a “short form” merger under Nevada law. Force Protection will become a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics as a result of the merger and will become part of General Dynamics Land Systems.
12 Dec 11. MBDA Inc., the wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of missile manufacturer MBDA, has purchased Northrop Grumman Corporation’s (NYSE: NOC) Viper Strike munitions business, located in Huntsville, AL. Terms of the agreement are not being disclosed. The Viper Strike purchase is MBDA Inc.’s first acquisition in the U.S. and is part of the company’s growth strategy. That strategy is based on a combination of acquisitions, organic growth, and partnerships with other U.S. prime contractors. The move will help position MBDA as a leading precision munitions firm in the U.S. and gives the company a stronger capability in the growing market to create and produce new weapons for unmanned aerial systems (UASs). The Viper Strike Business Unit facilities, located in the City of Huntsville and on the US Army’s Redstone Arsenal, will allow MBDA to design, build, and assemble complete precision-guided weapons in one location, as well as bring in new business to the MBDA Huntsville facilities. MBDA Inc. now owns two design, development, and manufacturing locations: the Huntsville, AL Viper Strike operating unit, and its original Westlake Village, CA operating unit. Viper Strike is a low-collateral damage, precision guided weapon designed for both manned and unmanned aircraft. This 44-pound, covert glide weapon allows U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, Special Forces, and U.S. Marine Corps aircraft to precisely engage targets in urban and complex terrain environments. It combines a GPS Inertial Navigation System and a Semi-Active Laser seeker to provide maximum operational flexibility. This transaction has received all necessary US government regulatory approvals.

16 Dec 11. Moog Inc. (NYSE: MOG.A) (NYSE: MOG.B) has acquired Bradford Engineering B.V. The purchase price is approximately EUR 10m in cash. Bradford, founded in 1983, is a European developer and manufacturer of satellite equipment including satellite attitude and orbit control subsystems, propulsion and thermal subsystems and components. (Source: Yahoo!/Marketwire)

17 Dec 11. Cohort on the block? Has the huge cut in the MoD consultants budget hit Cohort hard? After the 2010 profit warning the business has stabilised but little growth is being seen apart from one large Astute contract at SCS worth £6m. These sources suggest that Cohort is looking to sell to a larger consultancy, Serco or Babcock may be looking. The strong rise in Cohort’s shares to 100p last week shows that som