link isnt pasting for me either -- I have copied and pasted...

link isnt pasting for me either -- I have copied and pasted article below from Brad Thompson -- AFR

The United States Navy has written onerous change-of-control provisions into long-running contracts potentially worth billions of dollars with Austal, the ASX-listed shipbuilder fielding interest from acquisitive international firms.The provisions and the strategic importance of the work being done by Austal – including warships, coastguard vessels and submarines – mean only a narrow field of private equity funds, mainly in the US, will be able to make a takeover offer for the company. Austal counts Andrew and Nicola Forrest as its major shareholder, with a 19.9 per cent stake.Korean conglomerate Hanwha, which The Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk column reported had engaged Macquarie Capital to prepare a bid for Austal, is the suitor most likely to struggle to be approved by the US Navy. Asked about the change-of-control provisions on Wednesday, Austal chief executive Paddy Gregg said any party interested in acquiring the company would need to satisfy themselves they would gain that approval.

Austal chief executive Paddy Gregg with the USS Canberra in Sydney Harbour. “It is all theoretical, but one would assume that a US owner would be acceptable to the US Navy,” he said. Street Talk has also reported that interested parties include New York’s JF Lehman & Company, Cerberus Capital Management and Washington’s Arlington Capital Partners.Defence Minister Richard Marles and Caroline Kennedy, the US ambassador to Australia, are expected to gather with senior US Navy figures in Sydney on Saturday for the commissioning of the Austal-built USS Canberra.The latest Littoral combat ship to come from the Austal shipyards in Alabama will become the only US Navy vessel ever commissioned outside the US in another sign of strengthening ties under the AUKUS defence pact signed with Australia and the United Kingdom.Mr Gregg said Austal was also poised to build warships, including specialist vessels, for the Royal Australian Navy at its Henderson shipyards south of Perth and to potentially train staff to support nuclear-powered submarines that will be based at nearby Garden Island under the AUKUS agreement.

New lode for WA The Defence Strategic Review unveiled in April found Australia needed a Defence Force focused on maritime and amphibious missions and armed with long-range strike weapons. New landing craft were identified as a priority and the Albanese government ordered a secondary review of the Navy’s surface fleet it said would be completed quickly.Mr Gregg said Austal had put in a tender to build medium-sized army landing craft and was keen to understand the requirement for bigger landing craft and other priorities amid speculation Australia will look to build corvettes or light frigates.“We’re standing by ready to work with the Department of Defence [on landing craft],” he said.“That could be exciting near term and then [we’re] really keen to understand what’s coming next. I think the capability and facilities exist in WA and the final piece of the puzzle is getting the work awarded to industry, so we can get on with it.”Mr Gregg said the biggest review of the Defence Force in decades had clearly recognized the need for continuous naval shipbuilding, including in WA where Austal started out 35 years ago building rock lobster trawlers.“The real benefit of that in my mind is I think defense can be an amazing second industry in Western Australia [behind mining],” he said.“Because the US are going to station submarines here and the government is committed to continuous naval shipbuilding, putting that demand into the industry allows us to attract great people and to retain people because we can actually give them a career rather than just working on a project-to-project basis.”Mr Gregg, who spent 11 years building nuclear submarines while at BAE Systems, has overseen Austal gaining work building control modules for US Navy nuclear submarines.

He said it was possible Austal could train Australians at its Alabama facilities to work on nuclear submarines that will eventually be owned by this country. Australia is set to spend up to $368 billion over the next three decades to buy a fleet of eight nuclear-powered submarines. Apart from submarine work with US Navy, Austal is involved in 10 shipbuilding programs with the US Navy and Coast Guard. In May, it secured a contract to design and build a surveillance ship for the US Navy that could be expanded to six more ships, potentially raising the total value of the contract to $US3.2 billion ($4.7 billion). The Forrest family’s private company, Tattarang, acquired its Austal stake at an average price of about $1.90 in the past 18 months. It has since installed former Australian rear admiral Lee Goddard on the board.Mr Goddard is chief executive of the Australian Missile Corporation and while in the navy was commander of the joint agency task force responsible for Operation Sovereign Borders.