Leonardo DRS to exit sonar tech joint venture
Gettyimages.com / Yuichiro Chino
By
Ross Wilkers
The sale of its JV stake is Leonardo DRS' latest portfolio reshaping and market repositioning move.
Leonardo DRS is undertaking another divestiture in a move to continue shifting its portfolio and better position the business in areas closer to the core.
In a trading update Wednesday, parent company Leonardo said the DRS subsidiary is selling its stake in a sonar technology joint venture to Thales, other partner.
Terms were not disclosed, but Leonardo said the Advanced Acoustics Concepts JV posted $80 million in revenue last year and has nearly 200 employees.
AAC provides sonar, training and knowledge management systems to the Navy for programs involving undersea warfare.
“The transaction is another step forward in the execution of our industrial plan, we are continuing to focus on our core business,” Leonardo CEO Alessandro Profumo said in the release.
“In addition to the recent disposal of the GES business, this is a further step in the process of refocusing DRS business portfolio.”
GES refers to the unit known as DRS Global Enterprise Solutions, a satellite network integration business that is being acquired by SES for $450 million through a transaction announced in March.
Leonardo DRS said at the time that selling the business would give it more financial resources to undertake larger acquisitions.