United Defense to Buy Swedish Weapons Firm

United Defense of the United States, a unit of investment firm Carlyle Group, agreed to buy Sweden’s Bofors Weapon Systems from Celsius, a unit of Saab, in its first move to European arms markets. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. United Defense President Tom Rabaut said the purchase, the first major cross-Atlantic defense industry alliance, gave his company a foothold for expansion in Europe’s consolidating defense industry. Rabaut said United Defense would continue to develop BWS. “We are committed to Bofors and we hope to interest the U.S. government” in Bofors products, he said. Bofors will continue as a Swedish company, and its exports will be regulated by Swedish laws. The companies said they expect regulatory approval from both governments. A Saab spokesman said the sale will have a minor positive effect on next year’s results for Saab, which is partly owned by BAE Systems. BWS employs 550 people and has annual sales of about $175 million. United Defense has $1.2 billion sales and 5,000 employees.