BAE eyeing DML

Mike Turner, chief executive of the UK?s defence company BAE, recently said that the firm was “looking very hard” at acquiring the Devonport-based naval support firm DML as part of its plans to drive consolidation in Britain’s shipbuilding sector. Europe’s largest defence company is already in separate talks with VT Group about a possible tie-up in shipbuilding and a joint venture could take shape in the first half of 2007.

U.S. firm Halliburton’s unit KBR, which has a 51% stake in UK-based Devonport Management Ltd. (DML), has drawn the ire of Britain’s Ministry of Defence after failing to provide requested financial information ahead of the company’s plan for an initial public offering. DML is involved in supporting the UK’s nuclear-powered submarines, work which Turner said fits plans for consolidation in the sector.