HENSOLDT acquires British radar specialist Kelvin Hughes

HENSOLDT, the leading independent sensor house, has acquired the provider of security and maritime radar solutions Kelvin Hughes, London, from UK private equity firm ECI and management. With all legal requirements met, the share purchase agreement signed end of June 2017 has now taken effect.

“Our portfolios and market access are highly complementary and we will see significant growth from this transaction”, said Thomas Müller, CEO of HENSOLDT. “The Kelvin Hughes product portfolio will allow us to enter more price-sensitive markets and their security solutions will add value to the HENSOLDT products and bring us one step closer towards our strategic objective to develop our Sensor House into a Sensor Solutions provider”.

“To leverage the strengths of Kelvin Hughes in the security market and offer integrated solutions from our radar, Optronics and electronic warfare portfolio, we have decided to create a new, independent Security Solutions product line.” said Thomas Müller.

Kelvin Hughes, with approximately 200 employees, designs, produces and markets radar sensors mainly for maritime and security applications. Among their products is the SharpEye™ solid state high performance pulse Doppler radar family as well as the CxEye™ Command and Control software that allows the integration of multiple radar and camera sensors into a comprehensive display package. The company generates revenues of more than € 30m. Their products are used by more than 30 navies and coastguards worldwide.

“I am proud that Kelvin Hughes becomes a part of HENSOLDT. Both companies have shaped the radar market for seven decades and I am looking forward to the tremendous opportunities we have together and the new solutions we can jointly offer to our customers “, said Russell Gould, CEO of Kelvin Hughes.