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(Sharecast News) - US buyout firm Advent International is close to offloading a key division of Cobham, it was reported on Friday, as it continues to break up the defence giant.
According to Sky News, Advent - which acquired the British business in 2019 for 4bn - is in "detailed negotiations" to sell Ultra Electronic Warfare Simulation Technology (EWST).
Cobham acquired EWST in 2021, when it bought London-listed Ultra Electronics in a 2.6bn deal.
Citing one unnamed potential bidder, Sky said EWST was unlikely to command a significant price.
But it will contribute to Advent's wholesale break-up of the once sprawling Cobham group. Assets already sold off include the Paris-based Cobham Aerospace Communications, which was snapped up by France's Thales in 2023 for 850m.
The decision to break up the business has been criticised by politicians, who are concerned it undermines the UK's defence industry during a period of heightened geopolitical unrest, and the founding Cobham family.
However, Advent has previously stated that Cobham was a large, disparate conglomerate and was struggling.
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