British defense company BAE Systems buys US Ball Corp.

Britain’s largest defense company, BAE Systems, announced that it has agreed to purchase the aerospace assets of Ball Corp, one of the leading US companies in areas such as aerial reconnaissance, national security and intelligence programmes, for approximately $5.55 billion in cash.

In Reuters news in July, it was claimed that private equity firms Blackstone and Veritas Capital Fund Management are competing with defense companies including UAE, General Dynamics Corp and Textron to buy Ball Corp’s aerospace unit.

Ball Corp, the world’s largest supplier of beer cans, said it will use proceeds from the deal to reduce $9.7 billion of debt, pay dividends to shareholders and accelerate organic growth at its global packaging operations.

The UAE plans to finance the deal with new loans and existing cash.

Shares in the United Arab Emirates, traded on the London FTSE 100 stock exchange, fell 2.7 percent in early trading.