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BAE says interested in US defence buy

LONDON: BAE Systems Plc is interested in Lockheed Martin Aerospace and Electronic Systems, a unit of the U.S. defence and aerospace giant, but any move is in its early stages, a BAE spokesman said on Sunday.

Asked to comment on a report in the Sunday Times newspaper that BAE was considering a 1.3 billion pound ($2.07 billion) bid for Lockheed Martin Plc business, the spokesman told Reuters: "We are certainly looking at it".

"We are clearly a global systems company now and (the unit) could be attractive...But it's early days," he added.

The Sunday Times cited industry experts as saying the Lockheed business, which analysts value at some 1.3 billion pounds, was a perfect match for BAE - the new company created out of British Aerospace's purchase of GEC Marconi's defence arm.

Lockheed announced last September that it was aiming to improve results by streamlining its operations, restructuring and trimming its workforce.

The United States has traditionally been reluctant to open up its defence industry to foreign ownership. But industry members say the Pentagon may be warming up to deals by BAE, which through Marconi now has more than 18,000 U.S. employees.-Reuters