On July 2, CAE formally concluded its previously announced acquisition of L3Harris Technologies’ Military Training business for US$1.05 billion. According to a news release, all outstanding regulatory approvals were obtained, and all other closing conditions have been met.
The L3Harris Military Training business includes Link Simulation & Training, Doss Aviation and AMI. L3Harris Link is one of the leading providers of military training solutions in the United States; Doss Aviation is the provider of initial flight training to the United States Air Force (USAF); and AMI is a design and manufacturing facility for simulator hardware. The L3Harris Military Training business would now operate under CAE USA, headquartered in Tampa, Florida.
Through this acquisition, CAE’s position as a platform-agnostic training systems integrator is expanded and is helping to diversify CAE’s training and simulation leadership in the air domain, complementing land and naval training solutions, and enhancing CAE’s training and simulation capabilities in space and cyber. It also brings significant experience in the development and delivery of training systems for fighter and bomber aircraft, Army rotary-wing platforms, submarines and remotely piloted aircraft. L3Harris Military Training will also bring a significant backlog and position on key programs, including the USAF Simulators Common Architecture Requirements and Standards (SCARS) program, USAF F-16 Simulators Training Program (STP), US Navy/Marine Corps F/A-18 aircrew training systems, USAF Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) training and USAF B-2 training system.
A portion of the purchase price of the acquisition and other related transaction costs was financed using the net proceeds from the private placements of C$700 million (approximately US$550 million) aggregate amount of subscription receipts issued by CAE to Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and GIC Private Limited.
When this acquisition was first announced in March 2021, Marc Parent, CAE’s President and Chief Executive Officer said that the acquisition represents a significant value creation opportunity for all CAE stakeholders and will accelerate their growth strategy in Defence and Security and is highly complementary to their core military training business, and broadening their position in the United States.
“We are adding new customers, experience on new platforms and building our depth of expertise to address all domains – air, land, sea, space and cyber – as well as expanding into adjacent markets such as mission and operations support,” he added.