UK defence firm Ultra agrees deal with prosecutors over failure to prevent bribery

LONDON, May 1 (Reuters) - The ​UK's Serious ⁠Fraud Office has reached ​a deferred prosecution agreement with British defence contractor Ultra ​Electronics ‌for failure to prevent bribery, it said on ⁠Friday.

Ultra, which had referred itself ⁠to the SFO, ​agreed to pay 10 million pounds ($13.6 million) after accepting responsibility, the agency said.

The company – which in ​2022 ‌was acquired by rival Cobham, owned by U.S. private equity firm Advent – did not immediately respond to an emailed request for ​comment.

The SFO said the deal, which ends ‌its criminal investigation, relates to three public sector contracts in Algeria and Oman ‌that Ultra sought through the use of agents.

One was a contract worth up to ​200 million pounds awarded by the Omani Ministry of ‌Transport and Communications, while the other two related to Algeria and were not ultimately secured by Ultra, ⁠the ⁠SFO said.

Under the deal, ‌Ultra will also pay the SFO's investigation costs of 4.8 ​million ​pounds and provide annual reports ‌for the next three years on its anti-bribery and compliance programme.