Rachat de Volvo aerospace par GKN

GKN Plc (GKN), a U.K. maker of components for Airbus SAS jetliners, agreed to buy Volvo AB (VOLVB)’s aircraft- engine unit for 633 million pounds ($987 million) to tap demand for lightweight composite parts and narrow the gap with competitors such as Safran SA. (SAF)
The British company plans to raise 140 million pounds in a share sale to help pay for the purchase, it said in a statement today.
GKN is broadening a product range that already includes some aero-engine components after what Chief Executive Officer Nigel Stein called a year of transition in 2011 as accelerating civil orders countered a shrinking military market. For Gothenburg-based Volvo, the deal marks its biggest structural shift since splitting off its car unit in 1999 as it focuses on trucks and construction gear.
“This takes GKN into some new areas and increases the aerospace percentage,” said Nick Cunningham, an aviation analyst at Agency Partners in London. “It also raises the question of whether GKN is in the process of repositioning itself and will eventually become almost a pure aerospace company.”
Merging the businesses will create an aerospace division with more than 2 billion pounds in revenue, two thirds of which generated by the passenger plane market.
GKN initially bid about 800 million pounds for Aero, which equips aircraft such as Saab AB (SAABB)’s Gripen fighter jet, a price that depended on Volvo meeting certain conditions, people familiar with the situation said March 27.
Companies that had been interested and dropped out earlier this year include German aircraft-engine maker MTU Aero Engines Holding AG (MTX) and buyout firms Carlyle Group LP (CG) and Nordic Capital.
Stein said Feb. 28 that he would remain disciplined on what he would pay for acquisitions and that GKN had looked at “a lot of things over the years.” The company has four units, of which aerospace is the second largest after sales grew 4 percent last year to 1.48 billion pounds, lagging behind the other divisions.
In addition to complete engines, Volvo Aero makes parts including compressor rotors, turbine structures and fan cases.
The Swedish truckmaker has been active in aviation systems since the 1940s, though the business traces its roots to a Swedish Air Force order for 40 engines placed with a locomotive manufacturer in 1930, according to Volvo Aero’s website.
The Aero unit is based in Trollhaettan, 80 miles north of Gothenburg and also home to Saab Automobile, the bankrupt carmaker that last month was sold to a Chinese-Japanese investment group that aims to make electric cars.
“This is a highly attractive acquisition for GKN creating a market leader in aero engine components,” Stein said. “With excellent technology and strong life-of-programme positions on most civil aero engines, Volvo Aero will significantly enhance GKN Aerospace’s engine components business.”