(Edits, adds background)
LONDON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Britain has approved Advent
International's $5 billion purchase of defence company Cobham
after the U.S. private equity group made commitments to
address national security concerns.
Business minister Andrea Leadsom had put the deal on hold to
review the sale of air-to-air refuelling equipment maker Cobham,
which employs 10,000 people and also makes communications
equipment for military vehicles.
"I am satisfied that the undertakings mitigate the national
security risks identified to an acceptable level and have
therefore accepted them and cleared the merger to proceed",
Leadsom said in a statement http://bit.ly/2PIzbkS published on
Friday.
Leadsom had said on Tuesday that the new British government
of Prime Minister Boris Johnson was minded to accept the deal
after Advent put forward several legal undertakings, including
having a number of British executives on Cobham's boards.
Advent will have to give prior notice to Britain's defence
ministry if it plans to sell all or part of Cobham's business,
and honour existing contracts with the government.
Founded in the 1930s, Cobham's equipment came to the fore
ahead of World War Two and in the 1982 Falklands conflict. Its
technology is now used in aircraft such as the F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter and Eurofighter Typhoon as well as advanced naval
vessels, satellites and military vehicles.
However, it is still recovering from profit warnings in 2016
and 2017 that forced it to ask shareholders for cash and
prompted Chief Executive David Lockwood to overhaul operations.
Advent bought British electronics company Laird for $1.65
billion last year.
The private equity firm has already won approval from
regulators in the European Union, U.S. and Finland for its
acquisition of Cobham, whose acquisition was backed by
shareholders in September.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon
Cameron-Moore and Alexander Smith)
