Britain’s BAE Systems yesterday said it has agreed to acquire the Virginia-based Naval ship repair firm Marine Hydraulics International Inc. (MHI), a deal that further expands it capacity and expertise in ship repair business.
BAE is paying $69 million in cash for MHI, which is based in Norfolk, Va., home of the Navy’s Fleet Forces Command. MHI had $113 million in sales last year.
Once the deal closes, which is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2013, MHI will provide BAE with another pier that will provide the company with additional capacity to do upgrade and maintenance work on Navy destroyers. BAE, through its 2005 acquisition of the former United Defense, already has dry dock and pier facilities in Norfolk to serve the Navy.
MHI also has 400 skilled employees that will become part of the BAE Ship Repair business.
“The proposed addition of MHI’s operations and highly skilled workforce would strengthen our ability to serve both military and commercial customers in the repair, maintenance and modernization sectors of the Naval support and upgrade market,” Bill Clifford, president of BAE Ship Repair, said in a statement.
BAE also operates ship repair facilities in San Diego and San Francisco, Calif., Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Jacksonville and Mayport, Fla., and Mobile, Ala.