19th Oct 2006 07:00
Meggitt PLC19 October 2006 For immediate release 19 October 2006 Meggitt PLC Completion of Firearms Training Systems, Inc. Acquisition Meggitt PLC ("Meggitt"), the international aerospace, defence and electronicsgroup, today announces that it has completed the acquisition of FirearmsTraining Systems, Inc. ("FATS"), which was first announced on 24 August 2006,for $144 million. FATS is a publicly traded US company and is a leading provider of simulatedtraining solutions that improve the skills of military, law enforcement andsecurity organisations around the world. FATS provides judgemental, tactical andcombined arms training simulations covering a wide range of weapons firetraining situations, including small arms, air defence, anti-armour, vehicle/vessel mounted and air support. FATS serves US and international customers from headquarters in Suwannee,Georgia, USA with branch offices in Australia, Canada, Singapore, theNetherlands and the United Kingdom. It has sold approximately 5,200 trainingsystems in over 50 countries. For the year ended 31 March 2006, FATS reportedsales of US$78.6m, an operating profit of US$8.8m after non-recurring expensesestimated at US$3.1m and gross assets of US$53.7m. Under the terms of the agreement FATS's ordinary shareholders received US$1.08in cash for each FATS ordinary share they own representing a premium ofapproximately 35% over the closing share price on 23 August 2006 and amountingto a total equity value of US$86.1m. On completion Meggitt redeemed net debt andpreference shares at closing of US$57.5m equating to a total enterprise value ofUS$144m. The consideration has been funded from Meggitt's existing resources. FATS will be incorporated into Meggitt Defence Systems. FATS will significantlyincrease this division's product range, improve access to export markets andprovide synergy benefits primarily through integration with Meggitt's live firetraining systems business. Contact: Meggitt PLC +44 (0)1202 597 597 Terry Twigger, Group Chief ExecutiveStephen Young, Group Finance Director Buchanan Communications +44 (0)20 7466 5000 Charles Ryland / Jeremy Garcia This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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