May 21, 2008 2:29 PM, By Donny Jackson

Cobham recently agreed to pay $380 million for the radio-frequency components and subsystem business of M/A-COM, which is separate from the public-safety business of Tyco Electronics’ M/A-COM.

In a press release, Cobham indicated that M/A-COM’s aerospace and defense business is “highly complementary” to the Cobham Defense Electronics Systems business. However, the commercial side of the M/A-COM unit does not fit into Cobham’s core growth strategy, so Cobham plans to sell it.

“Given the encouraging level of interest believed to have been expressed during the auction by Tyco Electronics and some direct approaches received, Cobham anticipates that this business can be divested expeditiously and for a value that supports the Cobham business case for the A&D acquisition,” Cobham stated in its press release.

Meanwhile, officials for Tyco Electronics M/A-COM emphasized that the sale would not impact the company’s core radio-communications efforts in the public-safety and defense markets.

“It has absolutely nothing to with our public-safety side of the business,” M/A-COM spokesman Dave Hutcheson said.

Indeed, the portion of the company being sold in the transaction was the “traditional M/A-COM” that was focused on radar-related technologies prior to the company shifting its focus to mission-critical radio communications, said Victoria Dillon, M/A-COM’s vice president of communications.

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© 2008 Penton Media, Inc.