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Naval shipbuilder Austal has announced an extension for Hanwha Defence USA to submit a formal proposal to acquire the business entities and operations of Austal USA.
Hanwha has been granted a due diligence period to enable it firm-up its indicative, non-binding and conditional offer into a binding offer, according to the company.
“Commercial negotiations between Hanwha and Austal have commenced regarding details of a potential transaction and Austal is seeking professional advice on the various taxation implications of a transaction,” according to Austal investor advice.
“Regarding due diligence, while the substantive issues in the data room have been closed out, and the original parameters of the transaction have not changed, a tail of lower materiality data requests remains outstanding.
“The company also remains in on-going dialogue with Wildcat Infrastructure LLC in relation to their non-binding indication of interest.”
Austal had previously advised of a non-binding indication of interest “proposed transaction” from a syndicate led by Wildcat Infrastructure LLC to purchase Austal USA from Austal Limited.
“The indication of interest proposes an aggregate enterprise value of US$1.25–1.35 billion on a cash-free, debt-free basis, a price which is conditional on being able to conduct four weeks of due diligence,” according to the statement published on 9 September this year.
“Wildcat has indicated it intends to operate the company as a standalone platform, retaining the Austal brand and the company’s US operations.
“The board and its advisers will consider the transaction proposed by Wildcat. This ASX announcement has been approved and authorised for release by Austal Limited CEO Paddy Gregg.”
In separate naval shipbuilding news, HII has announced that its Newport News Shipbuilding division was awarded a US$56 million contract by the US Navy for shipbuilding engineering and design in support of the trilateral Australia, United Kingdom, and United States (AUKUS) partnership.
That contract includes an option which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $91 million. HII continues to take a whole-company approach to support the AUKUS agreement, providing services and support for AUKUS across its business divisions.
Under the contract, in support of Foreign Military Sales (FMS) requirements, NNS will continue supporting the United Kingdom and Australia, including technology insertion, engineering, supply chain and workforce development support, and digital transformation. The award also includes the United States Industry Support (USIS) effort, wherein NNS engineers and designers will support the design of the SSN-AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine to be built by the United Kingdom and Australia.
“Our longstanding nuclear experience at NNS directly benefits the AUKUS mission to support shared security objectives,” said Bryan Caccavale, NNS vice president of program management.
“We are honoured to leverage that experience and contribute even more to the AUKUS partnership.”
HII’s Mission Technologies division in Australia was awarded the contract to deliver the Australian Submarine Supplier Qualification (AUSSQ) Program, which accelerates the identification, development and qualification of Australian suppliers for integration into the United States submarine industrial base.
HII is also working with Australian industry and academia in Australia to develop the skilled workforce needed to support Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine enterprise. This includes educating and training thousands of engineers, maritime specialists, nuclear tradespeople and other professionals to support the enterprise across its full lifecycle.
The company was also awarded the Australian Submarine Agency’s Nuclear Capability Advisory Services (ANCAS) contract in December 2025 to support development of Australia’s Nuclear Power Submarine (NPS) programs through nuclear program management and technical support services.
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