UK defence contractor Cobham to sell Sparta to Parsons Corp for $350 million
20 Oct 2011
Cobham Plc, a defence technology company, yesterday agreed to sell its analytic solutions business to privately owned engineering firm Parsons Corp for $350 million, as part of the UK-based company's plan to hive off two of its non-core units.
Cobham is selling Sparta, a provider of advanced systems engineering, cyber security, and mission support services, primarily to the US Department of Defence, Department of Homeland Security, and global intelligence agencies.
Sparta has two principal business units. The Defence Business Unit is instrumental in the design, development, testing, fielding, and sustainment of effective weapons systems focusing on missile defence, tactical systems, space systems, and network-centric systems.
The National Security Business Unit includes an experienced cadre of engineering and technical domain experts who provide the US intelligence and homeland security communities with innovative solutions for intelligence production, information assurance, and computer network operations.
It supports US Missile Defence agencies with systems engineering, modeling and simulation, test and evaluation, and has played an important role in development and deployment of US missile defence systems for more than 30 years.
In the six months ended 30 June 2011, Sparta recorded revenues of $144.3 million (£91.6 million) and operating profit of $13.8 million (£8.7 million). In 2010, Sparta had revenues of $322.7 million.
