Washington, DC - The Department of Justice announced today that Ultra Electronics Holdings plc and Sparton Corporation have abandoned their merger, originally valued at more than $234 million. The transaction threatened to permanently combine the only two qualified suppliers of sonobuoys to the U.S. Navy. Sonobuoys are used in support of multiple underwater missions for detection, classification, and localization of adversary submarines during peacetime and combat operations. Ultra Electronics and Sparton Corporation have in recent years supplied this critical equipment to the U.S. Navy through their joint venture, ERAPSCO.
Ultra Electronics Holdings Inc. is a British company headquartered in London, England, that is comprised of 19 separate businesses. Ultra Electronics’ core markets are in North America and the United Kingdom. In 2016, Ultra reported annual worldwide revenues of £785.8. Ultra Electronics provides a wide range of products to the defense, aerospace, security, transport and energy industries.
Sparton Corporation is a publicly-held company incorporated in Ohio and headquartered in Schaumberg, Illinois; it reported $397.6 million in net sales for the fiscal year 2017. Sparton primarily designs and builds electromechanical devices for medical, military, aerospace and industrial applications. Sparton currently has thirteen manufacturing locations and engineering design centers worldwide.
