A historic Yorkshire engineering firm with roots stretching back 165 years has been acquired by German defence manufacturer Renk Group in a deal reportedly valued at up to £190million.
David Brown Defence, headquartered in Huddersfield, holds a distinguished place in British military history as the exclusive provider of gearboxes for Spitfire fighter aircraft during the Second World War.
The Frankfurt-listed buyer, valued at £4.7billion, supplies naval fleets in both Germany and the United States.
Private equity firm Stellex, which purchased DBD from another investment company three years ago, has now sold the business to its Bavarian rival.
The Huddersfield-based company remains vital to Britain’s defence capabilities, supplying transmission systems and gearboxes for the Royal Navy’s Astute class submarines.
DBD also provides critical components for the next-generation Dreadnought vessels, which will carry the nation’s nuclear deterrent.
Beyond its submarine work, the firm equips Royal Navy surface vessels alongside the British Army’s Challenger tanks and Boxer armoured fighting vehicles.
The acquisition brings Renk a £700m order backlog and what the company described as “unique expertise in submarine gearboxes with low noise and vibration levels, a technological basis for the next generation of submarine platforms”.
David Brown Defence, who made gearboxes for the Spitfire, is set to be taken over by a German company
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DBD is additionally involved in the Aukus submarine programme alongside Australia and the United States.
The British government has approved the transaction. Rupert Pearce, the UK’s national armaments director, said it “is a strong endorsement of the UK’s industrial base and an important investment in a company whose technologies underpin some of our naval and land defence platforms”.
He added: “This deal will help strengthen our supply-chain resilience, protect skilled jobs, and ensure UK armed forces get the capabilities they need.”
David Brown Defence has military roots stretching back 165 years
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Renk indicated that DBD’s existing relationships with Challenger and Boxer programmes would bolster its armoured vehicle portfolio whilst strengthening its position as a contractor to the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.
DBD employs 530 workers and boasts more than a century of military industrial heritage, having supplied marine gears during the First World War before manufacturing 10,000 tank gearboxes in the subsequent conflict.
Renk, headquartered in Augsburg, Bavaria, operates across six countries with 4,400 staff and already maintains a UK presence through its Horstman armoured vehicle business near Bath.
The German firm has pledged to maintain DBD’s Yorkshire operations. Alexander Sagel, Renk’s chief executive, said: “As a European partner, we have made a long-term commitment to Huddersfield and the UK defence industry.”