Post by ferryfast admin on Jun 27, 2012 11:41:49 GMT -5
Austal shakeup: General Dynamics eyeing Mobile shipyard (updated)
Published: Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 11:47 AM Updated: Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 11:47 AM
By George Talbot
blog.al.com/press-register-business/2012/06/austal_shakeup_general_dynamic.html
MOBILE, Alabama -- Joe Rella has resigned as president of Austal USA, and the company may be in negotiations to sell at least part of its Mobile shipyard to General Dynamics Corp., according to a maritime analyst.
Tim Colton, who blogs about the shipbuilding business for ColtonCompany.com, said in a post today that "the hot rumor is that a majority interest in the yard is being sold" to General Dynamics, one of the country's largest defense contractors.
Austal did not immediately respond to a request for comment today.
AUSTAL TIMELINE: The shipbuilder's story in Mobile
Colton said Dugan Shipway, who retired in 2009 as president of General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, would replace Rella as interim president in Mobile.
"Probably not a bad idea, depending on how the company is restructured," Colton said.
Shipway, a former U.S. Navy rear admiral, was appointed in March as an outside director on Austal USA's board of directors.
Rella has served as Austal USA's chief operating officer since 2007.
Mobile Mayor Sam Jones said Tuesday morning that while he was unaware of Rella's retirement, or of any details regarding the possible sale of assets to General Dynamics, his dealings with the former president have always been positive.
"We've had a very good relationship with Joe Rella and his whole management team," Jones said. "We can only say good things about Austal and that entire operation."
General Dynamics, headquartered in West Falls Church, Va., was formed in 1952 through the combination of the Electric Boat Company, Consolidated Vultee and several other companies. It is the fourth largest defense contractor in the world.
The company sold many of its defense-related businesses in the early 1990s and began expanding in the mid-1990s by acquiring combat vehicle-related businesses, additional shipyards, information-technology products and service companies and Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.
The company has since acquired and integrated more than 60 businesses, including six last year. Its revenue is currently at $32 billion with a workforce of about 95,000 employees.
The company now has four main business segments: Marine Systems; Combat Systems; Information Systems and Technology; and Aerospace.
Its Marine Systems segment designs, builds and supports ships for the U.S. Navy and commercial customers. The group's products include nuclear-powered submarines, surface combatants and combat-logistics ships, and Jones Act commercial ships.
The three businesses under the Marine Systems segment are Bath Iron Works, which engineers, constructs and supports surface combatants for the U.S. Navy; Electric Boat, which designs, constructs and supports the U.S. Navy's ballistic missile and attack submarines; and NASSCO, the only major ship construction and repair yard on the West Coast.
Published: Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 11:47 AM Updated: Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 11:47 AM
By George Talbot
blog.al.com/press-register-business/2012/06/austal_shakeup_general_dynamic.html
MOBILE, Alabama -- Joe Rella has resigned as president of Austal USA, and the company may be in negotiations to sell at least part of its Mobile shipyard to General Dynamics Corp., according to a maritime analyst.
Tim Colton, who blogs about the shipbuilding business for ColtonCompany.com, said in a post today that "the hot rumor is that a majority interest in the yard is being sold" to General Dynamics, one of the country's largest defense contractors.
Austal did not immediately respond to a request for comment today.
AUSTAL TIMELINE: The shipbuilder's story in Mobile
Colton said Dugan Shipway, who retired in 2009 as president of General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, would replace Rella as interim president in Mobile.
"Probably not a bad idea, depending on how the company is restructured," Colton said.
Shipway, a former U.S. Navy rear admiral, was appointed in March as an outside director on Austal USA's board of directors.
Rella has served as Austal USA's chief operating officer since 2007.
Mobile Mayor Sam Jones said Tuesday morning that while he was unaware of Rella's retirement, or of any details regarding the possible sale of assets to General Dynamics, his dealings with the former president have always been positive.
"We've had a very good relationship with Joe Rella and his whole management team," Jones said. "We can only say good things about Austal and that entire operation."
General Dynamics, headquartered in West Falls Church, Va., was formed in 1952 through the combination of the Electric Boat Company, Consolidated Vultee and several other companies. It is the fourth largest defense contractor in the world.
The company sold many of its defense-related businesses in the early 1990s and began expanding in the mid-1990s by acquiring combat vehicle-related businesses, additional shipyards, information-technology products and service companies and Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.
The company has since acquired and integrated more than 60 businesses, including six last year. Its revenue is currently at $32 billion with a workforce of about 95,000 employees.
The company now has four main business segments: Marine Systems; Combat Systems; Information Systems and Technology; and Aerospace.
Its Marine Systems segment designs, builds and supports ships for the U.S. Navy and commercial customers. The group's products include nuclear-powered submarines, surface combatants and combat-logistics ships, and Jones Act commercial ships.
The three businesses under the Marine Systems segment are Bath Iron Works, which engineers, constructs and supports surface combatants for the U.S. Navy; Electric Boat, which designs, constructs and supports the U.S. Navy's ballistic missile and attack submarines; and NASSCO, the only major ship construction and repair yard on the West Coast.