By Joe Hoppe


Ultra Electronics Holdings PLC said Friday that it has noted the U.K. government is minded to accept the undertakings proposed by Advent International Corp.'s Cobham Group Holdings Ltd. to allow its takeover of Ultra.

The U.K. defense-equipment provider had agreed on Aug. 16, 2021 to a 2.57 billion-pound ($3.15 billion) takeover by Cobham, but the U.K. government's Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng intervened on Aug. 18, citing national-security grounds.

Mr. Kwarteng said late Thursday that he is minded to accept Cobham's proposed legally binding undertakings to address the public interest concerns over national security, instead of referring the deal to a phase 2 enquiry.

The proposed undertakings will be subject to a public consultation until July 3. The acquisition remains conditional on the Secretary of State's formal approval, pending the outcome of the public consultation.


Write to Joe Hoppe at joseph.hoppe@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-24-22 0318ET