LONDON – Babcock has been selected as the preferred bidder to acquire the British government-owned Defence Support Group’s (DSG’s) land business, the Ministry of Defence announced Wednesday.
Britain's leading defense support company has long been the favorite to beat off rival bids from DynCorp International, a KBR/Rheinmetall team and a Carillion-led consortium to acquire the military vehicle and small arms repair operation owned by the government.
The government is retaining the DSG's avionics business.
Defence Procurement Minister Philip Dunne said the MoD hoped to complete the sale before the end of the financial year in March.
"Today's announcement is a key milestone in the sale process, and we remain on schedule to complete the sale of the Defence Support Group by the end of March next year. This has been a competitive process which is on track to deliver improved vehicle availability for the British Army at better value to the taxpayer over years to come. I expect to be in a position to release further details of the winning proposition in the new year once contract negotiations have concluded," Dunne said.
The Conservative-led coalition government first proposed the sale of DSG along with other defense assets soon after it came to power in 2010.
No price for the sale has been given but analysts previously put a value of more than £200 million (US $31.3 million) on any deal.
DSG's main customer is the British Army where it services and upgrades armored vehicles such as the Warrior infantry fighting vehicle from eight main sites around the UK. ■
Email: achuter@defensenews.com.
