12 Aug 12. Northrop CEO pay tops JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon. Top defense industry bosses are earning more than their counterparts in banking, and their pay probably won’t slide even if the U.S. trims military spending. Chief executives of the top five U.S. military contractors were paid a total of $107m last year, 43 percent more than the heads of the five biggest U.S. banks, who made $75m. That’s a reversal from 2007, when the defense executives received $97m, 41 percent less than the $163m that went to the top banking chief executives. (Source: glstrade.com/Washington Post)
22 Aug 12. TT Electronics hits European headwinds. Economic headwinds in Europe and concerns of a slowdown in China have weighed on first-half revenues at TT Electronics, the maker of emission controls, electric vehicle components and sensors for carmakers. Fears of further eurozone weakness prompted TT’s main customers, such as VW, Daimler and BMW, to delay big orders for parts. The group has responded by stepping up its cost cutting programme, as well as moving production to lower-cost locations such as Romania and Mexico. Trading on a forward p/e of 8, the shares are cheap and worth considering. (Source: FT.com)
20 Aug 12. General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) has executed a definitive agreement to acquire Fidelis Security Systems, Inc., a market leader in cyber security tools that provide real-time network visibility, analysis and control. The value of the cash transaction has not been disclosed. Fidelis Security Systems employs approximately 70 people at locations in Waltham, Mass., and Bethesda, Md. The acquisition has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies. General Dynamics expects the transaction to be completed in the third quarter of 2012. Fidelis Security Systems’ network security solutions help customers stop advanced threats and prevent data breaches by providing visibility into the complex layers of a network, exposing malicious content in real-time. These products complement General Dynamics’ cyber operations and incident response services, allowing customers to detect, defend and react to cyber threats and network breaches. In 2011 Gartner, Inc. recognized Fidelis Security Systems as a Visionary in its Magic Quadrant for Content-Aware Data Loss Prevention based on its completeness of vision and ability to execute, and in 2012 identified Fidelis Security Systems as an Advanced Threat Detection/Prevention market provider in their “Best Practices for Mitigating Advanced Persistent Threats” research paper. Fidelis Security Systems will become part of Fairfax, Va.-based General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a provider of end-to-end intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) solutions across all domains.
20 Aug 12. Back to Basics for Landing Gear Giant. In an effort to spur further growth and boost its stock value, Canada’s Héroux-Devtek is getting out of the business of making industrial products and airframe components to concentrate on its core business — producing landing gear for military and commercial aircraft. The firm is considered the world’s third-largest landing gear manufacturer after Goodrich and Messier-Bugatti-Dowty. Over the years it has expanded into industrial products such as off-highway vehicle and gas turbine components, as well as airframe sub-assemblies. (Source: glstrade.com/Defense News)
20 Aug 12. CGI Group Inc. (GIB.A)has completed its acquisition of Logica plc for 105 pence per ordinary share for a total purchase price of
£1.7bn (C$2.7bn) plus the assumption of Logica’s net debt of GBP 322m (C$499m) based on Logica’s December 31, 2011 financial statements. The cash acquisition of all the issued and to be issued ordinary shares of Logica was effected by means of Court sanctioned scheme of arrangement
in the UK. Logica shareholders had voted 99.54% in favour of CGI’s offer at a general shareholders meeting held in London on July 16, 2012. Conditions to the transaction were sat