10.01.2005, 21:33
Zitat:Turkey, Lockheed Near TAI DealQuelle: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=587183&C=airwar">http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=587183&C=airwar</a><!-- m -->
By BURAK EGE BEKDIL, ANKARA And UMIT ENGINSOY, WASHINGTON
Turkish Aircraft Industries, a small firm owned by the Turkish government, has sealed a preliminary deal to purchase the 42 percent stake that Lockheed Martin Aeronautics holds in Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), the country’s second largest defense company. The deal also would transfer the 7 percent stake that General Electric holds in TAI.
Turkish Aircraft Industries, also known by its Turkish acronym TUSAS, currently holds a 49 percent stake in TAI, which assembled F-16 fighter jets at its plant in Akinci in the 1980s and 1990s. Both companies are based in Ankara. The remaining 2 percent of TAI is owned by small Turkish companies.
One industry source in Ankara familiar with the plan said TUSAS would pay $25 million for the combined 49 percent stake held by Lockheed and General Electric.
Government officials and industry sources said TUSAS, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and General Electric signed a protocol in December to transfer the shares.
“The protocol paves the way for the formalization of the deal,” said one defense industry official in Ankara. “The protocol will be initialized soon.”
TUSAS launched negotiations last year with TAI for a possible acquisition, and the formal talks for a deal accelerated in June. The acquisition will be financed by a loan to TUSAS from the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation, which has shares in several Turkish defense companies.
“TUSAS, in turn, will repay from TAI’s dividends over the next years,” the defense industry official said. The official also said the deal is part of Turkey’s restructuring plans for its defense industry.
The Turkish government plans to consolidate mostly government-owned defense companies and emphasize national-design solutions. The buyout in TAI was part of those plans.
A white paper on defense industry restructuring obtained by Defense News called for the start of talks on the TAI acquisition. The white paper was discussed at a meeting of key procurement and military officials last May.
When asked about the sale Jan. 6, Lockheed Martin spokesman Joe Stout said, “It is Lockheed Martin’s policy not to comment on possible mergers, acquisitions or divestitures. When and if they are finalized, we will make the appropriate public announcement.”
Turkey selected Lockheed’s F-16 as its main fighter jet in the mid-1980s, under a nearly $4 billion contract that led to the establishment of TAI. The Turkish firm co-produced more than 250 F-16s for domestic and export customers.
Turkey has announced plans to buy nearly 100 Lockheed F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to replace its aging F-16s by around 2015.
In addition, TAI has built 60 CN-235 transport planes with Spain’s Construcciones Aeronauticas, Madrid, now known as EADS-CASA. TAI also has built 30 AS-532 Cougar utility helicopters with Eurocopter, Marignane, France.
TAI now manufactures aircraft parts for Boeing and EADS subsidiary Airbus as well as parts for Sikorsky Aircraft helicopters.
The country’s defense procurement agency, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, or Savunma Sanayi Mustesarligi in Turkish, owns 55 percent of TUSAS, TAI’s major shareholder. TUSAS, with annual revenues of $600,000 in 2003 and 63 employees, offers project control services, technical support, engineering and systems engineering.
Ich habe die ganze Meldung gepostet, da für die Ansicht des Originaltextes eine Anmeldung erforderlich ist.