(Adds quote, background)
OSLO, March 9 (Reuters) - Norway's NSM security agency may
block a planned 150 million euro ($178 million) sale by
Rolls-Royce of its Bergen Engines unit to a company
controlled by Russia's TMH Group, the justice ministry said in a
statement on Tuesday.
Britain's Rolls-Royce announced the planned sale on Feb. 4
as part of a disposal plan aimed at helping the maker of engines
for aircraft and ships survive the pandemic.
Bergen Engines is, among other things, a supplier to NATO
member Norway's navy.
"It may be that a sale of Bergen Engines AS to TMH Group
could jeopardise national security interests," Justice Minister
Monica Maeland said.
"It is therefore necessary to pause this process to
establish a sufficient basis of facts on which to consider the
transfer," she said.
($1 = 0.8435 euros)
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; editing by Jason Neely)