Textron completes acquisition of Overwatch Systems

Published 5 December 2006

A subsidiary of a mutli-industry heavy-weight Textron acquires a New Jersey company specializing in gathering and presenting actionable intelligence; acqusition will strengthen Textron’s already-strong line of offerings

Providence, Rhode Island-based multi-industry heavy-weight Textron (NYSE: TXT) said its Willmington, Massachusetts-based Textron Systems unit has completed the acquisition of Morristown, New Jersey-based Overwatch Systems. The acquisition complements Textron’s core aerospace and defense business and also bolsters its strategy of adding key capabilities to its menue of offerings.

Overwatch Systems would fit well among Textron’s products. The company develops and markets integrated systems which help analysts generate actionable intelligence faster and more effectively for war fighters, first responders, analysts, and policymakers.

Textron Systems has developed a name for itself as both a maker of high-end precision smart weapons, surveillance systems, complex intelligence and communications systems, and aircraft control components, but also of more traditional piston engines and armored vehicles. Textron Systems is a wholly owned subsidiary of Avco Corporation, which itself is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Textron.

Now, Textron is a $10 billion multi-industry company operating in thirty-three countries with about 37,000 employees. The company operates a network of aircraft, industrial, and finance businesses. Among Textron’s better-known products: Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, and Greenlee.

-read more in this news release; and see information on Overwatch’s intelligence center