Disposal
December 17 2003 - 8:00AM
UK Regulatory
RNS Number:3634T
Filtronic PLC
17 December 2003
Filtronic plc: US Disposal
Agreement to sell certain assets of Filtronic Solid State Business to Teledyne
Wireless, Inc. for US$12m
Filtronic plc ("Filtronic"), a leading designer and manufacturer of customised
microwave electronic subsystems for the wireless telecommunications and defence
industries, announces that it has entered into an agreement to sell certain
assets of its Filtronic Solid State ("Solid State") business, in Santa Clara,
California, to Teledyne Wireless, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Teledyne
Technologies Incorporated ("Teledyne" - NYSE: TDY) for approximately US$12m.
The transaction is expected to close on or about December 31, 2003 and is
subject to customary closing conditions.
The proceeds of the disposal, which is of the electronic warfare part of Solid
State's business, will be used by Filtronic to accelerate repayment of its
senior notes, of which US$74m is currently outstanding. Filtronic has now bought
and cancelled a total of US$96m of its 10% Senior Notes due 1 December 2005
since 4 February 2002. Profit before taxation attributable to the Solid State
electronic warfare business for the year ended May 31 2003, was $1.4 million on
sales of $12.5m. The value of the net assets to be disposed of is approximately
$3.0 million.
Commenting, Professor J David Rhodes CBE FRS FREng, Executive Chairman of
Filtronic plc, said: "We are pleased that the Solid State electronic warfare
business will have such a strong new owner in Teledyne. The complementary skills
and business opportunities arising through Teledyne should provide excellent
growth for the Solid State business and employees. In the future, Filtronic
looks forward to building upon the strong relationships formed with Teledyne
through this transaction."
Solid State designs and manufactures customised microwave subassemblies for
electronic warfare, radar and other military applications. Following the
acquisition by Teledyne Wireless, the business will be relocated from Santa
Clara, California and consolidated with existing Teledyne operations in Mountain
View, California.
Following the transaction, Filtronic will retain its Solid State compound
semiconductor business in California and employ 19 people there.
Teledyne is a leading provider of sophisticated electronic components,
instruments and communication products, systems engineering solutions, aerospace
engines and components and on-site gas and power generation systems. It has
operations in the United States, the United Kingdom and Mexico.
Said Robert Mehrabian, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Teledyne Technologies: "Solid State is highly complementary to our Teledyne
Wireless and Teledyne Microwave Electronic Component units. Solid State's
precision YIG-based oscillators, filters and amplifiers serve the same customers
as our traveling wave tubes, voltage controlled oscillators and other products,
and are used on many of the same military programs."
He added: "We expect to obtain significant synergies through the consolidation
of Solid State with our current military microwave subassembly operations in
Mountain View, California. Solid State's strong and experienced management team
will assist us in our strategy to develop a broader line of specialised,
high-performance microwave products for military radar, electronic warfare,
missile and communication applications."
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Filtronic plc Binns & Co PR Ltd
Professor David Rhodes Peter Binns
John Samuel Paul McManus
Christopher Schofield
Tel: 01274 221 000 Tel: 020 7786 9600
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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