FRANKFURT (Reuters) - British private equity investor Cinven (CINV.UL) has teamed up with German space technology group OHB (DE:OHBG) to bid for Airbus's (PA:AIR) defence electronics unit, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
The person also said that private equity firm Blackstone (N:BX) had dropped out of a consortium with Rheinmetall (DE:RHMG), leaving the German defence group to bid for the Airbus unit on its own.
OHB was not immediately available for comment, while Cinven, Blackstone and Rheinmetall declined to comment.
Airbus, Europe's largest aerospace group, is currently disposing of assets with combined revenues of around 2 billion euros (£1.4 billion). It said last month it aimed to pick a buyer for the defence electronics unit by the end of the year.