Warship Builder News

Known best for its construction of U.S. Navy warships, Austal USA in September 2020 acquired waterfront property along the Mobile River and established a commercial ship repair facility. Mike Bell, Austal’s VP Operations and Harley Combs, Director, Austal West Campus Ship Repair discuss the plan. Austal USA’s long-established shipbuilding facility in Mobile, Ala., is a modern ship manufacturing factory, one of the largest aluminum warship builders in the world producing new ships for the U.S. Navy.

ASC Shipbuilding chief executive officer Mark Lamarre will step down after three years at the helm of the Australian naval warship builder. According to the shipyard, Lamarre has decided to return to the United States for family reasons.   ASC shipbuilding general manager Jim Cuthill will step in as acting CEO from December 15.   On November 24, ASC secured the shipbuilding role for the initial phase of the Offshore Patrol Vessel project in Adelaide in 2018-2020.   The company is pursuing additional shipbuilding projects, including the Future Frigate program from 2020.

Two French former defence industry executives have been placed under preliminary investigation as part of a probe into the 2002 sale of submarines to Malaysia, an official in the French judiciary said on Wednesday. The source said Philippe Japiot and Jean-Paul Perrier, former executives at Thales and DCNS, had been placed under investigation as part of a long-running probe into alleged kickbacks from that Malaysian submarines deal in 2002. Japiot and Perrier deny any wrongdoing, French media reports said. Reuters was unable to immediately reach either individual. Being a target of a preliminary investigation or a formal investigation in France does not necessarily lead to a trial.

French defense group Thomson-CSF plans to bid for British warship builder Vosper Thorneycroft, which in turn is preparing a bid for U.K.-based Hunting Engineering, according to press reports. Officials of Thomson-CSF, which recently acquired defense electronics company Racal Plc, said the company could bid up to 15 pounds ($22.46) per share, valuing Vosper at $754.6 million. The takeover bid, which is reportedly welcomed by the British government, would ensure Thomson-CSF a slice of a multi-billion dollar contract to build new frigates for Britain's Royal Navy. Vosper was reportedly mulling a bid for the defense arm of British-based Hunting Engineering, a maker of weapons integration systems for Apache attack helicopters along with engineering business in the oil industry.

Britain’s three big shipbuilding and defense groups have held exploratory talks about creating a new company or alliance in a move that would put thousands of Scottish shipbuilding jobs under threat. BAE Systems and VT Group have tabled various alternatives for Britain's naval shipbuilding industry should they decide not to proceed with a bid for Babcock International, the warship builder and support services group. Under Takeover Panel rules, the two companies have until May 18 to decide whether to make an offer for Babcock. Alternative proposals could see the three shipbuilders take stakes in a new business or collaborate through a three-way alliance. The government endorsed the need for consolidation in the UK maritime sector in a defense white paper published in December.

Newport News Shipbuilding Inc.'s board voted to back the $2.1 billion takeover offer from fellow defense contractor General Dynamics Corp. over a rival offer from Northrop Grumman Corp. Newport News, a warship builder, said in a statement its board voted unanimously to recommend the company go with General Dynamics' offer after determining it did not have enough information regarding the positions of federal antitrust regulators and defense officials to take a position on the Northrop bid. Newport News and General Dynamics announced plans to combine in April. Northrop countered with its own offer for Newport News in May. Though structured differently, Northrop's offer is about equal to that of General Dynamics. - (Reuters)

Defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. said on Tuesday that it will comply with a request from the Department of Justice for additional information on its proposed takeover of warship-builder Newport News. The company said the Department of Justice made the request on Monday under antitrust regulations. Northrop Grumman last month commenced an exchange offer for each of Newport's outstanding common shares for $67.50 in cash or stock. Earlier this month, Newport News board had voted in favor of a $2.1 billion takeover bid from rival General Dynamics.

U.S. defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. on Thursday said it extended again its tender offer for the shares of Newport News Shipbuilding, as the antitrust enforcers weighed the proposed $2.1 billion takeover. Los Angeles-based Northrop, which is competing with rival General Dynamics Corp. for control of Newport News, said it extended its tender offer for shares of the warship builder to July 19 at midnight EDT from the prior deadline of July 5. About 2.84 million shares, or nine percent, of Newport News' common stock had been tendered as of 5:00 p.m. EDT on July 5, Northrop said. Falls Church, Va.-based General Dynamics recently said about 20.3 million Newport shares, more than the majority of those outstanding, had been tendered in connection with its bid.

Competing bids for Newport News Shipbuilding Inc. remain under review by the Defense Department and a final recommendation is several weeks away. General Dynamics Corp. on Monday said more than half of Newport News' shares had been tendered in response to its $2.1 billion takeover offer, but Northrop Grumman Corp. continues to press its own bid, saying it alone can get antitrust clearance. Aldridge, speaking before testifying to Congress on advanced weapons research, said he would ultimately make a recommendation in consultation with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Completion of the Pentagon's review is "probably still several weeks away," Aldridge said. The report would then be forwarded to the U.S. Justice Department, which is weighing whether the deals pass antitrust muster.

U.S. Defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. said on Thursday that it had extended again its $2.1 billion tender offer for the outstanding shares of warship builder Newport News Shipbuilding Inc. to Aug. 30. About 1,620,832 shares of Newport News Shipbuilding common stock had been tendered to Northrop Grumman as of 5:00 p.m. on Aug. 16, including about 181,611 shares tendered pursuant to notices of guaranteed delivery, Northrop said. On Aug. 2, the company extended the deadline for its offer for Newport News to Aug. 16. In May, Northrop launched a hostile takeover bid for Newport, offering to pay $67.50 in cash and stock for each of Newport's outstanding shares.

Vosper Thornycroft Holdings Plc, Britain's second biggest warship builder, reported an increase in pretax profit of 8.2 percent to $25.9 million in the six months ending Nov. 11. The company raised its interim dividend 8.3 percent. Turnover and operating profits are both up 23 percent.