BAE Systems buys Ball Aerospace for whopping $5.5 billion

UK defence giant BAE Systems has been given approval to complete the acquisition of Ball Aerospace, allowing it to augment its portfolio with the US company’s space technologies.

The £4.4 billion (US$5.5 billion) acquisition will also allow BAE to align with the priorities of US intelligence and the Department of Defense, leading to a potential “substantial increase” in US revenue.

All that remains to complete will be the “customary steps at the end of a transaction”, said Tom Arseneault, president and chief executive of BAE Systems. 

“We’re hoping to complete that in the coming days,” he remarked.

Once the deal has been finalised, Ball Aerospace will become a fourth operating sector of BAE Systems, dubbed Space and Mission Systems. It will incorporate Ball Aerospace’s more than 5,200 employees and its Colorado manufacturing facility.

Dave Kaufman, president of Ball Aerospace who will lead the Space and Mission Systems unit, said that being part of BAE would allow it to bid for more ambitious programmes. 

“BAE has different expertise than we do,” Kaufman remarked. “It gives us the ability to move up the food chain and contribute in bigger ways.”