Cassidian acquires the majority share in South African company Grintek Ewation

Cassidian, the defence and security division of EADS, boosts its global security electronics business by entering into an agreement to acquire the majority shareholding in South African Electronic Warfare specialist company, Grintek Ewation (GEW), Pretoria.

Cassidian will increase its 45 per cent share in GEW to 87,4 per cent by acquiring the 42,4 per cent share of SAAB South Africa. A 12.6 per cent share is held by Kunene Finance Company. The increase of local shareholding remains a priority to be addressed in the near future. The transaction which is valued at a two-digit million Euro sum is subject to formal approval from South African competition authorities. "Grintek Ewation capitalizes on outstanding competencies in the fields of Communications Electronic Warfare", explained Bernd Wenzler, CEO of Cassidian Electronics. "These are complementary to our existing skills in governmental intelligence and electronic protection, and therefore give us an excellent basis to grow this business vigorously."

"This new shareholding structure takes the long standing relationship with EADS to a new level" said Carel van der Merwe, CEO of Grintek Ewation. "The advantage of this closer relationship provides the opportunity for future growth and competitiveness on a global scale".

About Grintek Ewation: Grintek Ewation (Pty) Ltd is a system engineering company with more than 40 years experience in the design and production of sophisticated communication monitoring, direction finding, countermeasures, spectrum management and integrated security systems incorporating a wide range of surveillance and monitoring products. GEW has a workforce of approximately 300 people and has maintained a close cooperation with Cassidian over a decade.