Australia’s DefendTex in talks to buy Brazil’s missile-maker Avibras

SAO PAULO — Australian defense company DefendTex is negotiating the acquisition of Avibras, a Brazilian firm known for its Astros missile launching system , the latter announced Monday.

Avibras was in debt for 376 million (U.S. $75 million) reals as of April 2023, according to the metalworkers union representing São José dos Campos — where the company has its headquarters — and the surrounding region.

According to Avibras’ April 1 statement, the companies are in “advanced talks to facilitate a potential investment aimed at the economic and financial recovery of Avibras, in order to keep its manufacturing units in Brazil, resume operations as soon as possible, and maintain the supply stipulated in contracts with the Brazilian government and other clients.”

Avibras did not disclose the value of the potential sale.

Of the company’s previously reported debt, the union said 14.5 million reals is related to labor. The union noted salaries were delayed by 10 months, which drove protests by workers in February 2024.

However, Avibras is actively seeking international contracts, having competed , for example, in the Spanish defense program SILAM, in partnership with the Spain-based company New Technologies Global Systems in October 2023.

Last month, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Czech company Excalibur International, focusing on jointly developing and manufacturing defense equipment.

A Brazilian company that discussed the potential sale with Defense News on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic said the announcement “has set off a red alert for the defense sector and is a serious risk to Brazil’s sovereignty” because it could lead to the transfer of an “important national technological legacy built over decades” to a foreign entity.

For its part, the Brazilian government has expressed concern about Avibras’ future.

“The government’s biggest concern is the company shutting down,” Carlos Zarattini, the vice chief of the Chamber of Deputies who would participate in the acquisition negotiations, told local media.

Pedro Pligher is a Latin America correspondent for Defense News. He has reported on politics, economics and the Brazilian small arms industry.

圣保罗——澳大利亚国防公司 DefendTex 正在洽谈收购巴西公司 Avibras，后者以其 Astros 导弹发射系统而闻名，Avibras 周一宣布了这一消息。

据代表圣若泽杜斯坎普斯（该公司总部所在地）及周边地区的金属工人联合会称，截至 2023 年 4 月，Avibras 公司负债 3.76 亿雷亚尔（7500 万美元）。

根据 Avibras 4 月 1 日的声明，这些公司正在“进行深入谈判，以促进一项旨在帮助 Avibras 实现经济和金融复苏的潜在投资，从而使其制造工厂留在巴西，尽快恢复运营，并维持与巴西政府和其他客户签订的合同中规定的供应”。

Avibras并​​未透露潜在交易的金额。

工会表示，该公司此前公布的债务中，有1450万雷亚尔与劳工问题有关。工会指出，工资被拖欠了10个月，这引发了工人在2024年2月的抗议活动。

然而，Avibras 正在积极寻求国际合同，例如，该公司曾于 2023 年 10 月与总部位于西班牙的 New Technologies Global Systems 公司合作，参与了西班牙国防项目 SILAM 的竞争。

上个月，该公司与捷克公司 Excalibur International 签署了一份谅解备忘录，重点是共同开发和制造国防设备。

一家巴西公司在匿名接受《防务新闻》采访时谈到了这笔潜在的交易，因为该话题非常敏感。该公司表示，这一消息“在国防领域拉响了红色警报，并对巴西的主权构成了严重威胁”，因为它可能导致“几十年来积累的重要国家技术遗产”转移到外国实体。

巴西政府方面则对巴西航空的未来表示担忧。

“政府最担心的是公司倒闭，”将参与收购谈判的众议院副议长卡洛斯·扎拉蒂尼告诉当地媒体。

佩德罗·普利格尔是《防务新闻》的拉丁美洲通讯员。他曾报道过政治、经济和巴西小型武器工业。