15 Feb 13. Giuseppe Orsi, the chairman of Italian air defense group
Finmeccanica who was arrested this week over his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal, has resigned his position, Orsi’s lawyer said on Friday. Orsi has also tendered his resignation as a Finmeccanica board member, the lawyer, Ennio Amodio, told reporters. Orsi, who was questioned by prosecutors on Friday, faces allegations of paying bribes to win a 560m euro contract for the company’s AgustaWestland unit to supply helicopters for use by senior Indian politicians. Orsi has denied any wrongdoing. (Source: Reuters)
14 Feb 13. Bersani hints at Italian privatisations. The leader of Italy’s centre-left and frontrunner to be the country’s next prime minister has opened the door to the privatisation of some of Italy’s state-owned industrial holdings. But Pier Luigi Bersani explicitly ruled out that a centre-left government would sell its stake in Finmeccanica, Italy’s biggest defence company. Speaking to the Financial Times after a rally he held in Avellino on Wednesday night in the southern region of Campania, Mr Bersani said that as prime minister he would think about how to reorganise state-owned holdings, which include stakes in energy groups Eni and Enel.
“We first need to ensure the operational continuity of these companies. Then, we can think of possible partnership, collaborations, even sales. But selling Finmeccanica is not the key word here,” he said. (Source: FT.com)
08 Feb 13. Dell investor vows to fight $24.4bn deal. Dell’s proposed $24.4bn leveraged buyout was facing its first sign of significant opposition on Friday night after the tech group’s biggest outside shareholder publicly rejected a deal it said “grossly undervalues the company”. In a letter to Dell’s board, Southeastern Asset Management, which has an 8.5 per cent stake, expressed “extreme disappointment” with the planned deal and said it would vote against its current structure. (Source: FT.com)
12 Feb 13. Thales announced it is in exclusive talks with Egis of France to acquire its air traffic management IT solutions business. The turnkey ATM solutions include the MAESTRO arrival/departure flight sequencing systems (AMAN/DMAN arrival/departure management), ATALIS aeronautical information systems (AIM), datalink servers and SCANSIM simulators (air traffic control and control tower simulation). The Egis Avia teams impacted by this potential acquisition are based at the company’s Toulouse and Issy-les-Moulineaux facilities. The acquisition would enable Thales to round out its range of solutions and further strengthen its expertise in air traffic management, particularly the synchronisation and optimisation of traffic during the approach, arrival and departure phases. Thales confirmed they will be continuing to support and maintain all of Egis Avia’s clients in the ATM IT solutions business in the long term. They have also undertaken to continue the excellent work Egis Avia has done in developing and maintaining technical and commercial relationships with clients and partners. The sale will enable Egis Avia to concentrate on its core consultancy and engineering activities within the ATM and Air Operations market. This is a market segment that is experiencing significant growth for Egis Avia as evidenced by the recent acquisition of Helios.
11 Feb 13. American Science and Engineering, Inc. (ASEI) (“AS&E”) reported its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2013 ended December 31, 2012. The Company is reporting revenues of $50,803,000 as compared with revenues of $57,907,000 for the third quarter of fiscal year 2012, net income of $6,093,000 as compared with net income of $7,535,000 for the third quarter of fiscal year 2012, and earnings per share of $0.73 as compared with earnings per share of $0.84 for the third quarter of fiscal year 2012. For the first nine months of fiscal year 2013 ended December 31, 2012, the Company reported revenues of $144,400,000 co