Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri is in talks with Leonardo to purchase the protection group’s submarine unit Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei (Wass), a number of newspapers reported on Wednesday.
Spokespersons for Fincantieri and Leonardo each declined to remark.
The acquisition would have a price of between 200 and 300 million euros ($217-$326 million), Corriere della Sera and monetary each day Il Sole 24 Ore reported.
The transfer by Fincantieri can be a part of the group’s broader technique to develop non-organically and focus extra on the defence sector, which at the moment accounts for much less that 25% of its revenues.
The state-controlled shipbuilder is contemplating a capital improve of some 400 million euros to finance the operation, Il Messaggero mentioned, including that the shipbuilder is being suggested by JPMorgan, Intesa Sanpaolo and Bnp Paribas for the deal.
Milano Finanza newspaper first reported on Saturday that Fincantieri was contemplating a big acquisition and that it was inspecting both a recapitalization or the difficulty of a convertible bond to take action.
Leonardo, additionally managed by the Italian state, has been planning to discover a purchaser for Wass for years, however had put the choice on maintain after the start of the struggle in Ukraine. At the time, the group mentioned Wass, together with one other unit, OTO Melara, might develop higher outdoors the group.
($1 = 0.9211 euros)
(Reuters – Reporting by Giulia Segreti, modifying by Alvise Armellini)
