Israel’s defense company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. has completed the acquisition of the British defense specialist company Pearson Engineering Ltd. The acquisition was executed under a stock purchase agreement (SPA), transferring 100% of the ownership. The acquisition includes Pearson’s metalworks subsidiary company Responsive Engineering Ltd.
According to M.G (ret.) Yoav Har-Even, RAFAEL’S President and CEO, this acquisition is part of RAFAEL’s continued strategic investments to transfer cutting-edge, state-of-the-art technologies, products, and systems into the United Kingdom, addressing UK national security and economic interests. “Until recently, most of RAFAEL’s operations in the UK were in partnership with UK prime contractors, with the majority of workshare manufactured in Israel,” Har-Even said. “By acquiring Pearson and Responsive Engineering we will be able to enhance and expand manufacturing capabilities in the UK, thus strengthening our UK supply chain to better support our customers, especially the UK MOD and British armed forces. This will lead to a significant increase in the number of jobs in Newcastle and will build strong links with academic institutions throughout the UK and specifically in North East England.” Har-Even said.
“RAFAEL’s ambition for Pearson and Responsive brings valuable growth and stability for our employees, our trusted supply partners in the region, and the wider community in the North East. It will undoubtedly create more jobs and generate exciting career opportunities within both companies”, Craig Priday, Pearson Engineering Managing Director added.
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[wlm_ismember]According to Dr. Ran Gozali, EVP, GM Land and Naval Division for RAFAEL, The UK MOD Challenger 3 program already reflects a point of synergy for the team. Pearson and Responsive are manufacturing the tank’s turret structures and, supported by RAFAEL, Pearson will be able to locally manufacture and integrate the TROPHY active protection system, providing the highest level of protection to the crew.” Both companies have been working with prime contractor RBSL on the £800m program to upgrade 148 Challenger Main Battle Tanks (MBT) into the Mk3 standard by 2027. In March 2022 RBSL awarded a circa £25 million supplier contract to Pearson Engineering to fabricate the turret structures for the British Army’s Challenger 3 Main Battle Tank. Rafael’s TROPHY system will be integrated into the turret of this tank.
The synergy between the companies can grow further with Pearson’s extensive battlefield mobility support capabilities, especially with NATO armies addressing assault battlefield shaping, gap crossing, obstacle, and minefield breaching capabilities as part of expanding NATO’s land forces warfighting capabilities implementing lessons learned from the war in Ukraine.[/wlm_ismember]
RAFAEL is a world-renowned, Israeli-based defense contractor specializing in cutting-edge, innovative defense systems. Spanning many areas of defense, Rafael’s land systems activities include the development and production of ballistic and active protection systems, development, design, production, and integration of turrets for armored vehicles, counter IEDs, missiles, and more. Rafael is Israel’s third largest defense company, with 8,000+ employees and over 30 subsidiaries worldwide, serving the defense, security, and aerospace markets. As a global organization, Rafael has bolstered its presence in its main markets including the US, India, South Korea, and most European NATO member countries. The acquisition will expand its presence in the UK, where RAFAEL already has significant projects underway. Pearson Engineering will be joining the RAFAEL UK group. The move received approval from the UK Ministry of Defence and the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
