2nd Jan 2008 08:24
QinetiQ Group plc02 January 2008 QinetiQ Group plc2 January 2008 QinetiQ agrees to purchase two Australian defence consulting companies QinetiQ Group plc, announces today that it has signed agreements to purchase twoAustralian defence consulting businesses, Ball Solutions Group Pty Ltd andNovare Services Pty Ltd. These acquisitions, which are subject to regulatoryapproval, represent QinetiQ's first investment in Australia and provide thecompany with a presence of 185 staff located in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne,Brisbane and Adelaide. Ball Solutions Group is a provider of professional and consulting services,primarily to the Australian Department of Defence and has annual revenues ofA$29 million. It is being acquired for a total cash consideration of A$12million from Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Broomfield, Colorado, USA.It operates in three main practice areas: business systems and applications;data acquisition and management; and operations research and analysis. Novare provides engineering and logistics services to the Australian Departmentof Defence, its prime contractors and selected commercial partners. It hasannual revenues of A$6.1 million and is being acquired for a total cashconsideration of A$8 million from its founders, who will remain with thecompany. Novare's core expertise is in explosive ordnance and weapons, aerospacesystems, advanced technical data management and performance based contracting. These acquisitions represent the continuing execution of QinetiQ's strategy togrow its Europe, Middle East and Australasia (EMEA) capabilities. They willenhance QinetiQ's portfolio of defence and security based expertise, provideadditional routes to market and broaden QinetiQ's customer base through existingrelationships and contractual arrangements. The acquisitions are subject to Australian and US Government regulatory approvaland are expected to complete by the end of February 2008, after which thecompanies will trade as QinetiQ Consulting Pty Ltd. Contacts: QinetiQ Investor Relations: Adrian Colman +44 (0)1252 395366; +44 (0)7740 432699 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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