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Business minister Andrea Leadsom had put the deal on hold to
review the sale of air-to-air refueling equipment maker Cobham,
which employs 10,000 people and also makes communications
equipment for military vehicles.
"I am satisfied that the undertakings mitigate the national
security risks identified to an acceptable level and have
therefore accepted them and cleared the merger to proceed",
Leadsom said in a statement http://bit.ly/2PIzbkS published on
Friday.
Leadsom had said on Tuesday that the new British government of
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was minded to accept the deal after
Advent put forward several legal undertakings, including having
a number of British executives on Cobham's boards.
Advent will have to give prior notice to Britain's defense
ministry if it plans to sell all or part of Cobham's business,
and honor existing contracts with the government.
Founded in the 1930s, Cobham's equipment came to the fore ahead
of World War Two and in the 1982 Falklands conflict. Its
technology is now used in aircraft such as the F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter and Eurofighter Typhoon as well as advanced naval
vessels, satellites and military vehicles.
However, it is still recovering from profit warnings in 2016 and
2017 that forced it to ask shareholders for cash and prompted
Chief Executive David Lockwood to overhaul operations.
Advent bought British electronics company Laird for $1.65
billion last year.
The private equity firm has already won approval from regulators
in the European Union, U.S. and Finland for its acquisition of
Cobham, whose acquisition was backed by shareholders in
September.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon
Cameron-Moore and Alexander Smith)
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