BAE Systems goes shopping to strengthen its business. Now the British defense contractor has assured that it reached an agreement with the American company Ball Corporation, to acquire its aerospace business for 5,500 million dollars in cash (just over 5,000 million euros in exchange). The main objective of this transaction is that it is completed during the first half of 2024.
As indicated by the company, it will be treated for tax purposes as a purchase of assets, with a tax benefit on the expected net real value of about 750 million dollars (688 million euros), which means that the underlying economic consideration for the acquired business be around 4,800 million dollars (4,402 million euros).
The British company has highlighted that the proposed acquisition represents an exceptional opportunity to reinforce its portfolio with a significant scale and high-level technological capabilities, since Ball Aerospace will add more than 2,000 million dollars (1,834 million euros in annual revenue in the growing dominance in space, C4ISR, and in the missile and munitions markets.
Furthermore, BAE Systems is confident that this acquisition will give its US business a position in some of the fastest growing segments of the defense market and further align it with the customer priorities embodied in the Defense Strategy. U.S. Domestic For the full year ended December 31, 2022, Ball’s business
“The acquisition of Ball Aerospace capabilities is a unique opportunity…It is rare that a business of this quality, scale and complementarities, with strong proposed growth prospects and a close fit to our strategy, is available,” said Charles Woodburn, CEO of BAE Systems.
For his part, Daniel W. Fisher, Chairman and CEO of Ball Corporation, stresses that BAE Systems is well positioned to invest in Ball Aerospace to take the combined business to new heights and generate significant value, adding that Ball Corporation secured its share repurchase authorization and quarterly dividends to accelerate return of value to shareholders.
