The acquisition of Ultra by Cobham has been cleared to proceed
Following advice from the Ministry of Defence and after careful consideration of responses to a consultation, the Business Secretary has today (Wednesday 6 July) cleared the acquisition of Ultra by Cobham to proceed.
The announcement follows the Business Secretary consulting on steps to address the national security concerns raised by the proposed acquisition of Ultra, a UK defence company, by Cobham, a defence, aerospace, and communications company that was acquired by US private equity firm Advent International. The government consultation on the undertakings offered by the companies to address the concerns identified ran until 3 July 2022.
The Business Secretary has accepted the undertakings from the parties to mitigate national security risks, with a small number of changes to reflect the responses to a consultation on them.
The undertakings to mitigate the national security concerns came into force today and details are available on the decision notice. In summary, the undertakings are:
Separate to the public interest intervention and the mitigation of national security concerns, the government has agreed a deed offered by the parties to:
In addition, by the end of the 3-year period, Cobham commits to establishing programmes intended to: