26 Jun 03. Boeing has become the seventh partner in the private-equity Chrysalix Energy Limited Partnership. Vancouver-based Chrysalix invests in early-stage companies developing fuel cells and related infrastructure for various electronics, power-generation and transportation applications. The Boeing participation is through Boeing Phantom Works, the company’s advanced research and development arm,
02 July 2003. Alvis Vickers Limited and IVECO DVD have signed a marketing co-operation agreement to allow Alvis Vickers to sell the Multipurpose Light Vehicle (MLV) into worldwide markets. In the event of Alvis Vickers being successful with MLV on the UK Future Command and Liaison Vehicle (FCLV) programme, Alvis Vickers will have the rights to promote and sell the MLV to a number of markets in the Middle and Far East plus a number of other undisclosed countries. The MLV vehicle would be built by Alvis Vickers in the UK in parallel with manufacture in Italy for their national requirements.
4 Jul 03. A £350m aerospace factory built for Airbus, will be officially opened today. The 83,500 square metre (over 900,000 square feet) facility, reckoned to be the largest factory built in the U.K. in recent years, has been constructed alongside the existing Airbus factory in Broughton, North Wales. To be known as the ‘West Factory’, it has been built to house wing assembly for the double- deck, 555 seater A380 airliner as well as other aircraft manufacturing activity.
02 Jul 03. The Carlyle Group and Finmeccanica have signed an agreement for the acquisition from Fiat Group of the aerospace businesses of FiatAvio SpA, the leading Italian manufacturer of aircraft and naval engines and a leader in space propulsion. The acquisition will be carried out through a special purpose vehicle, Avio Holding SpA, which will be 70% owned by The Carlyle Group and 30 by Finmeccanica. Avio Holding will purchase the entire share capital of Avio SpA, to which all aerospace businesses of FiatAvio have been transferred with effect from July 1, 2003. The total value of the acquired businesses is approximately €1.5bn, which will be funded through a combination of debt financing and equity of circa €500m. The acquisition should be completed by the end of 2003 and is subject to the approval of competition authorities.
24 Jun 03. Lockheed Martin UK has teamed with Kelvin Hughes Ltd and Offshore Systems Ltd to bid into the initial competitive stage of the MOD’s requirement for Warship Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (WECDIS), which is being considered for installation into all Royal Navy ships. The team includes Babcock Design and Technology Ltd who would manage the task of ship-fitting design and the installation of the systems into the Fleet. If successful, the team would integrate their latest off-the-shelf products – developed and in-service with many navies worldwide – to provide the RN with an immediately available solution to meet the military WECDIS requirement.
03 Jul 03. DaimlerChrysler AG has shortlisted around five bidders for its MTU aero engines unit and may agree a sale as early as late August. DaimlerChrysler hopes to raise around €1.5bn ($1.72n) from a sale. U.S. private equity firms the Carlyle Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) and the Blackstone Group and British rival Doughty Hanson are among the shortlisted bidders. J.F. Lehman, another U.S. buyout firm, has also proceeded to the second round but is hoping to team up with another party, rather than bid alone, the sources said.
30 Jun 03. On Monday, the international type acceptance was officially granted for Eurofighter in the presence of the defence minister of the Federal Republic of Germany and the deputy defence ministers from Great Britain, Italy and Spain at the Manching plant of EADS Military Aircraft. The agreements that have now been signed by the respective governments and NETMA, the management agency installed by them, on the one side and