Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE: ARSP.B1) has signed one of its largest arms deals, for the sale of $1.1 billion worth of missiles, anti-missile systems, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), intelligence and other systems.
In a brief notice to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), IAI announced that it has signed a four-year $1.1 billion arms deal with an Asian country. It did not name the customer or the systems that would be sold, but said that advances would be paid in exchange for guarantees in the same amount.
IAI CEO Yitzhak Nissan personally led the negotiations.
A source close to the deal told "Globes" that it would greatly boost IAI's orders backlog, and is a major personal achievement for Nissan at a time when the global defense market is in crisis following the US departure from Iraq and other countries slash defense spending. "A deal of this size should not be taken for granted at a time when many countries are cutting their defense spending because of uncertainty in global markets. Nissan succeeded in reaching a mega-deal that will give IAI financial and job security for years," the source said.
"Globes" initial report regarding this deal mistakenly identified India as the Asian country.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 9, 2012
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