NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Hydroid Inc. a leading provider of advanced marine robotics to the defense and maritime markets and a U.S. based indirect subsidiary, wholly owned by Kongsberg Maritime. In conjunction with the transaction, HII and Kongsberg Maritime are also establishing a strategic alliance to jointly market naval and maritime products and services to the U.S. government market and potentially to global markets.
Hydroid, based in Pocasset, Massachusetts, will become part of HII’s Technical Solutions division. The acquisition of Hydroid expands HII capabilities in the strategically important and rapidly growing autonomous and unmanned maritime systems market. The transaction is subject to regulatory review and customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020. The value of the transaction is $350 million, which will be effectively reduced by tax benefits that are preliminarily valued over $50 million, to be received by HII.
“We are very excited about bringing Hydroid into the HII family and establishing a strategic alliance with Kongsberg Maritime,” said Mike Petters, HII’s president and CEO. “Hydroid’s advanced capabilities and reputation for excellence in autonomous and unmanned maritime systems provide the perfect complement to our existing unmanned operations, including Proteus in Panama City and our partnership with Boeing to produce the Orca XLUUV. This transaction, along with the strategic alliance with Kongsberg Maritime, demonstrates our long term commitment to the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard and our national security customers and allies globally.”
The strategic alliance between HII and Kongsberg Maritime leverages the companies’ combined capabilities and resources to enhance their respective services and product offerings to the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and other national security customers. The companies will also explore opportunities to market each other’s products to customers on a global scale and to collaborate to create innovative solutions and additional opportunities for growth.
Kongsberg Maritime is a wholly owned subsidiary of KONGSBERG (ticker: KOG), an international, knowledge-based corporation headquartered in Norway. The group delivers advanced technology systems and solutions to clients within the defense and aerospace market and commercial maritime market.
Hydroid is a field-proven technology leader in advanced marine robotics. Since 2001, its REMUS line of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) has provided innovative, rapidly deployable solutions for use in defense, marine research and commercial applications. Hydroid specializes in UUV design, engineering, production and support.
About Huntinton Ingalls Industries
Huntington Ingalls Industries is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HII’s Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HII’s Technical Solutions division provides a wide range of professional services through its Fleet Support, Mission Driven Innovative Solutions, Nuclear & Environmental, and Oil & Gas groups. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs more than 42,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit:
- HII on the web: HII.com
- HII on Facebook: facebook.com/TeamHII
- HII on X: x.com/WeAreHII
- HII on Instagram: instagram.com/WeAreHII
Statements in this release, as well as other statements we may make from time to time, other than statements of historical fact, constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in these statements. Factors that may cause such differences include: the failure of the parties to the acquisition agreement to close the transaction; changes in government and customer priorities and requirements (including government budgetary constraints, shifts in defense spending, and changes in customer short-range and long-range plans); and other risk factors discussed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. There may be other risks and uncertainties that we are unable to predict at this time or that we currently do not expect to have a material adverse effect on our business, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements that we may make.
