FULL STEAM AHEAD; AVONDALE BOARD OKS TALKS WITH LITTON.Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Daily News Staff Writer Shipbuilder Avondale Industries Inc. said Tuesday its board approved talks with Litton Industries Named after inventor Charles Litton Sr., Litton Industries was a large defense contractor in the United States, bought by the Northrop Grumman Corporation in 2001. Inc. regarding the company's $38-per-share cash offer for Avondale. When Woodland Hills-based Litton made its offer for the Avondale, La.-based company last week the deal was valued at about $503.9 million. Avondale had earlier agreed to merge with Newport News Newport News, independent city (1990 pop. 170,045), SE Va., on the Virginia peninsula, at the mouth of the James River, off Hampton Roads, near Norfolk; inc. 1896. Shipbuilding. On Tuesday, Avondale issued a brief statement, saying its board decided Litton's offer ``could lead to a proposal which is superior to the terms of (the) agreement to merge with Newport News Shipbuilding.'' ``We need to engage in a discussion in order to evaluate the proposal so I could guess you could say this is the first step'' toward a deal, said Avondale spokesman Tom Kitchen. No timetable for the talks has been set but executives from the two companies will likely meet sooner rather than later. ``We're all anxious to enter into meaningful discussions,'' said Litton spokesman Randy The name Randy generally derives from the names Randall or Randolph (meaning wolf with a shield). Randy is used as a given name primarily in the US and Canada. Men known as Randy
On the same day Litton offered to buy Avondale, it made a $1.25 billion offer for Newport News. At the time, Newport News directors said they were willing to discuss the deal with Litton. ``Our board authorized au·thor·ize tr.v. au·thor·ized, au·thor·iz·ing, au·thor·iz·es 1. To grant authority or power to. 2. To give permission for; sanction: preliminary discussions with Litton to review the offer but that by no means means acceptance,'' Newport News spokeswoman Jerri Dickseski said Tuesday. If Litton's acquisitions are approved by federal regulators, the company would become the nation's largest builder of military ships. Combined, the three companies would have revenue of about $7.4 billion and more than 58,000 employees. A combined Litton-Avondale-Newport News would create a company able to build a wide range of military ships, including nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and noncombat support ships. It would reduce the number of major players in the market from four to two, with General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) is a defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2006 it is the sixth largest defense contractor in the world[1]. The company has changed markedly in the post-Cold War era of defense consolidation. Corp. providing competition for Litton. Regulators sunk General Dynamics' attempt to buy Newport News because it would have concentrated too much construction and research and development work with one company. But they also approved the Newport News combination with Avondale. The Litton-Avondale-Newport News merger would spread the work more evenly across the country and to different contractors and subcontractors, analysts said. Litton's military warship warship, any ship built or armed for naval combat. The forerunners of the modern warship were the men-of-war of the 18th and early 19th cent., such as the ship of the line, frigate, corvette, sloop of war (see sloop), brig, and cutter. work is done at its Pascagoula, Miss.-based Ingalls Shipbuilding Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, originally established in 1938, and is now part of Northrop Grumman Ship Systems. It is a leading producer of ships for the US Navy, and at 10,900 employees, the largest private employer in Mississippi. . Newport News, based in Newport News, Va., is the only U.S. maker of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Avondale manufactures amphibious assault vehicles The Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV)—official designation AAV-7A1 (formerly known as LVT-7) is a fully tracked amphibious landing vehicle manufactured by FMC Corporation (now BAE Systems Land and Armaments). and other military ships. |
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