Oman Daily Observer

Britain gives US investor nod to buy Cobham for $5 bn

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LONDON: Britain has approved the purchase of British defence company Cobham by US investor Advent Internatio­nal for $5 billion after the 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 published.

Leadsom had said on Tuesday that

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s new government of 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.

A member of the family which founded Cobham said the decision was deeply disappoint­ing.

“In Cobham, we stand to lose yet another great British defence manufactur­er to foreign ownership,” said Nadine Cobham, whose late husband was a son of the company’s founder.

“In one of its first major economic decisions, the government is not taking back control so much as handing it away,” she said, adding that the announceme­nt on the weekend before Christmas had been timed to avoid scrutiny.

Johnson said the sale showed Britain — which is due to leave the European Union at the end of next month — was open to investment from around the world.

“It’s very important that we should have an open and dynamic market economy,” he told British broadcaste­rs during a visit to Estonia. “A lot of checks have been gone through to make sure that, in that particular case, all the security issues that might be raised can be satisfied.”

Founded in the 1930s, Cobham’s equipment came to the fore ahead of World War Two and in the 1982 Falklands conflict.

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,s.

 ?? — Reuters ?? Britain’s Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom is seen outside Downing Street in London, Britain .
— Reuters Britain’s Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom is seen outside Downing Street in London, Britain .

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