Hanwha Defense USA has offered up to $1.2 billion to acquire Austal USA, a proposal that could significantly expand the South Korean company’s presence in American naval shipbuilding. Austal said it had received a non-binding and conditional offer indicating an enterprise value of approximately $1.05 billion to $1.2 billion on a cash-free and debt-free basis.
The proposal remains subject to due diligence. Austal’s board has authorized Hanwha to conduct further examination of the business after determining that the offer warrants additional evaluation. However, no agreement to sell the company has been reached.
Austal USA designs and builds vessels for the US Navy and US Coast Guard and also supports submarine-related activities. Its operations include a shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, as well as repair facilities in San Diego, California.
The proposed transaction is limited to Austal’s US business and operations. It would not include Austal’s publicly traded shares or its core activities in Australia and other parts of Australasia.
If completed, the acquisition could strengthen Hanwha’s position within the US naval industrial base and give the company a larger role in American shipbuilding and sustainment activities. It would also add to a broader pattern of consolidation across the defence industry, as major contractors seek to expand their portfolios through acquisitions.
Recent transactions cited in the source include Lockheed Martin’s agreement to acquire Ultra Maritime for $3.45 billion. Ultra Maritime develops sonar, sonobuoy, torpedo defence, radar and autonomous maritime sensing technologies.
Booz Allen Hamilton has also agreed to acquire Ultra I&C’s Mission Solutions business for $720 million. That business focuses on software, encryption and edge-computing technologies used in defence and national security applications.
Earlier, Parker Hannifin agreed to acquire CIRCOR International’s commercial and defence aerospace business for $2.55 billion. The deal would add flight-critical motion and flow-control technologies used on commercial and military aircraft.
Hanwha’s proposal for Austal USA therefore comes amid a wider effort by major defence companies to expand capabilities, strengthen industrial capacity and increase access to strategically important technologies and markets.
