Australian shipbuilder Austal Ltd said it has received an offer from a unit of South Korea's Hanwha Group to buy its U.S. operations, with an indicative enterprise value of up to $1.20 billion.
Austal announced the offer on Tuesday, August 11, and agreed to provide Hanwha four weeks to conduct due diligence.
Indicative enterprise value of the offer for Austal's U.S. operations.
Hanwha Defence USA has offered between $1.05 billion and $1.20 billion for Austal's U.S. entities and operations, according to one source. Another source identified the bidder as Hanwha Aerospace, a unit of the Hanwha Group.
Austal's U.S. operations are expected to book an operating earnings loss of A$175 million in the year to June 30, reflecting higher expected losses on several shipbuilding programmes, the company said.
The company's shares rallied after the offer was announced. Austal's American business sells ships to the US Navy and Coast Guard.
