ROME - Three years after acquiring U.S. defense electronics firm DRS, Italy's Finmeccanica is planning to sell off some DRS units with total revenue of up to $800 million, managers said March 3.
The selloff at DRS, which saw $4 billion in revenue last year, is part of a move away from "non-core" activities. It will also help cut debt at parent Finmeccanica, CFO Alessandro Pansa told financial analysts in a meeting in London.
Some of the proceeds from the sales will also be plowed back into new acquisitions for DRS, which could be outside the U.S., said CEO Pierfrancesco Guarguaglini.
"If DRS can be more present outside the U.S., it will give the possibility to increase revenue," Guarguaglini said at the meeting.
Guarguaglini has previously said that DRS could benefit from expanding outside the U.S. market, guided by the global know-how of its parent company, Finmeccanica.
Without naming which units might be sold, Finmeccanica said it would seek to divest activities operating in "non-core segments for the group, markets with limited growth opportunities in the near future and markets where DRS lacks scale. …We are currently initiating the process to implement this portfolio optimization by 2011."
Proceeds from the sales would be partly used to help ease Finmeccanica's debt of 3.13 billion euros ($4.32 billion). Finmeccanica is also planning property sales and sale of a stake in energy unit Ansaldo Energia to reduce debt.
Targets for DRS acquisitions have already been identified by Finmeccanica, the company said, and were small to medium-sized. The company is interested in "control of enabling technologies, ease of integration within group products," and that possible acquisitions be in "key DoD programs of interest for the group that can be effectively integrated within DRS and foster growth in strategic areas."
The selloff at DRS, which saw $4 billion in revenue last year, is part of a move away from "non-core" activities. It will also help cut debt at parent Finmeccanica, CFO Alessandro Pansa told financial analysts in a meeting in London.
Some of the proceeds from the sales will also be plowed back into new acquisitions for DRS, which could be outside the U.S., said CEO Pierfrancesco Guarguaglini.
"If DRS can be more present outside the U.S., it will give the possibility to increase revenue," Guarguaglini said at the meeting.
Guarguaglini has previously said that DRS could benefit from expanding outside the U.S. market, guided by the global know-how of its parent company, Finmeccanica.
Without naming which units might be sold, Finmeccanica said it would seek to divest activities operating in "non-core segments for the group, markets with limited growth opportunities in the near future and markets where DRS lacks scale. …We are currently initiating the process to implement this portfolio optimization by 2011."
Proceeds from the sales would be partly used to help ease Finmeccanica's debt of 3.13 billion euros ($4.32 billion). Finmeccanica is also planning property sales and sale of a stake in energy unit Ansaldo Energia to reduce debt.
Targets for DRS acquisitions have already been identified by Finmeccanica, the company said, and were small to medium-sized. The company is interested in "control of enabling technologies, ease of integration within group products," and that possible acquisitions be in "key DoD programs of interest for the group that can be effectively integrated within DRS and foster growth in strategic areas."
No comments:
Post a Comment