Page 19 - Five Forces of Americanisation Richard Hooke 04072025 final post SDR1

The UK Defence Industry in the 21 Century
st
The Five Forces of Americanisation

▪ Financing growth and developing corporate value, including, growth, investment
policy, rationale for share buybacks, availability of UK debt, growth of US private
investment funds and other arbitrageurs, including the implications of the UK
Chancellor’s consultation on loosening the private asset management regime
▪ Overseas trade, including market intelligence, priority campaigns, trade negotiations,
cross--government departmental support requirements (FCDO, Treasury, Export Finance,
MoD, etc)
iii. Using procurement as a strategic tool
iv. Providing discipline and clarity on the conditions, dependencies and limitations that will affect
potential mergers and acquisitions and alliances; including developing a “fit and proper” test
to evaluate the suitability of bidders as a first step and noting that will rule out private funds
given the incompatibility of their aims and objectives, reflected in an inappropriate reliance
on leverage

3. Integrating Trade, Diplomacy and Defence policy and practice
i. Actively making use of/developing the export customer base
ii. Teaming with industrial partners as appropriate to develop UK export customer relationships,
actively using direct and indirect offsets, countertrade and industrial participation
programmes

Notes
1. Advent International is a financial services firm with offices in Europe, North America, Latin America and the
Asia Pacific region (Greater China, Australia and India). According to Managing Partner, James Brocklebank:
“Years of focus on operationally intensive investing is at the heart of Advent’s track record of helping nurture
and grow innovative, world-class businesses.”
(Advent International website, May, 2025)
Between 2020 and 2021, Advent acquired two London Stock Exchange-listed defence companies, Cobham
plc and Ultra Electronics plc, subsequently changing their leadership teams and refinancing the companies
with increased debt before realising significant financial gains by breaking up the groups and selling their
constituent companies to corporate acquirers.
“Latest Cobham sale will take divestment proceeds past $7bn mark”
“A proposed sale of Cobham’s aerospace communications business will take to over $7 billion the total
raised through the steady dismantling of the group by its US private equity owners.
“Advent International acquired Cobham plc in January 2020 for $4 billion and since then has divested
eight business units generating proceeds of $6.1 billion, according to company filings.
“That figure is likely to soon swell to $7.2 billion after Thales announced on 12 July that it was in exclusive
negotiations to acquire France-based Cobham Aerospace Communications for around $1.1 billion”.
(Dominic Perry, Flight International, 12 July 2023)

2. “The Honorable Steve Feinberg is the 36th deputy secretary of defense, sworn in on March 17, 2025. A
graduate of Princeton University, Feinberg is a seasoned executive with extensive leadership experience
who grew Cerberus Capital into a global investment firm with approximately $70 billion in assets.” (US
th
Department of Defense, 17 March, 2025)

19
07/07/2025 Richard Hooke 2025