Once again, L-1 Identity Solutions [ID] and France’s Safran Group have voluntarily withdrawn the notification of their planned merger with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to allow the to companies more times to negotiate the transaction, which had been expected to close during the first quarter of 2011.
The companies have refiled the notification with CFIUS, beginning a new 30-day review period, and L-1 said it expects the acquisition to close within 30 days. In February L-1 and Safran withdrew and then refiled their notification with CFIUS to allow additional time to complete the merger.
“We continue to work together to negotiate the elements of a definitive mitigation agreement satisfactory to CFIUS,” Robert LaPenta, chairman, president and CEO of L-1, said in a statement.
Safran announced last September its intention to acquire L-1’s identity solutions business for $1.1 billion (Defense Daily, Sept. 21, 2010). Britain’s BAE Systems has already acquired L-1’s former intelligence services business (Defense Daily, Feb. 16).
In their statement late Friday on the refiling, L-1 and Safran said they have made “meaningful progress with CFIUS.”