WAR.WIRE
DCN, Thales eyeing German submarine maker HDW: sources
FRANKFURT (AFP) Jul 08, 2003
 The French state-owned shipbuilding group Direction des constructions navales (DCN) and French defence company Thales have both expressed an interest in buying German group HDW, the world's leading maker of conventional submarines, a source close to the talks told AFP Tuesday.

Two other groups were also in the running to buy the maker of non-nuclear submarines, namely US defence group Northrop Grumman and German heavy industry giant ThyssenKrupp, the source said.

The daily Die Welt reported Tuesday that DCN had offered to buy HDW from its current owners, the investment fund OEP, for 800 million eurosmillion dollars)

However, the source rejected the sum named in the report.

Die welt said that OEP (One Equity Partners) had not yet made a decision on the offer.

But the German government was already considering blocking the deal for fear German defence-related technology could fall into foreign hands, the newspaper added.

WAR.WIRE