LORAL HAS WON ITS $862 million bid to acquire the defence operations of US computer manufacturer Unisys, seeing off rival offers from Hughes Aircraft and Raytheon.
The acquisition, which will bring sales of $1.4 billion and around 8,500 staff, continues a five-year shopping spree in which Loral has absorbed Ford Aerospace, the LTV missiles operation and IBM's Federal Systems business.
Loral expects the latest acquisition to be complete by the end of September and says that it will be financed out of existing resources. After contract adjustments, the final purchase price for the Unisys units is expected to fall slightly, to $798 million.
The operations involved in the deal cover defence computing, the integration of Trident ballistic-missile systems, anti-submarine-warfare, secure communications and weather and air-traffic-control systems. Unisys is a subcontractor to Loral on the US Federal Aviation Administration's Advanced Automation System.
Unisys formed in 1986 by the merger, of Sperry and Burroughs, first expressed interest in selling its defence business, in 1991 as the group suffered falling sales and heavy workforce cuts.
The units, which are being sold to Loral, include the Electronics Systems, Systems Development, Canadian Electronics and Secure Communications operations.
Source: Flight International
