UK aerospace maker Meggitt said it was confident that its $ 6.3 billion acquisition by a U.S. rival
Kwarteng referred the planned takeover of Coventry-based Meggitt by Parker-Hannifin to the competition and market regulator on Monday, as it was in the public interest. âGreat Britain is open to business. However, if necessary, we will take steps to protect our national security, âhe said.
Meggitt, an FTSE-100 engineering company active in the aerospace, defense and energy markets, said in a brief statement Tuesday that it looks forward to being “constructive” in its review with the competition authority to work together.
The company, which was promoted to the FTSE 100 share index in September as a result of the offer, continues to expect the acquisition to close in the third quarter of 2022.
The acquisition of Meggitt, an arms supplier to the UK government that supplies components for US F-35 Lightning II fighter jets, would nearly double Parker’s aerospace activities.
Parker-Hannifin agreed to acquire Meggitt in August and made a number of legally binding commitments, including maintaining the company’s UK headquarters in Coventry and protecting jobs in research and development, product development and manufacturing. However, jobs in other areas are not protected. Meggitt employs around 2,000 people in the UK.
A Parker-Hannifin spokesperson said: âWe look forward to working with the UK government on PIIN [public interest intervention notice] and to bring the examination of the transaction to a satisfactory conclusion. “
US competitor TransDigm pulled out in September, doubting that it could generate a sufficiently high return on its investment.
A number of recent takeovers of UK companies by foreign competitors and private equity firms have raised concerns about the threats to the UK economy and its competitiveness. Nvidia’s proposed takeover of Cambridge-based chip designer Arm worth $ 40 billion.