Cerberus, Others Eye Lockheed Martin's PAE Division -Reuters

Private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP is among the suitors for Lockheed Martin Corp.'s (LMT) Pacific Architects and Engineers division, which is being marketed for about $500 million, Reuters reports Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The division's asking price is about seven to eight times its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, the sources said.

They said Cerberus is interested in the division, which provides military training services, because of potential synergies between it and DynCorp, the defense contractor Cerberus took private for $1 billion in April.

PAE, which Lockheed put up for sale in June nearly four years after its 2006 purchase, has also drawn interest from several U.S. engineering and construction companies such as KBR Inc. (KBR), Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (JEC), Fluor Corp. (FLR) and URS Corp. (URS).

Lockheed, of Bethesda, Md., has hired Evercore to run the auction, is planning management meetings with the interested parties this week, in hope of reaching a deal by year's end, the sources told Reuters.

Representatives for Cerberus, Lockheed, Evercore, KBR and URS declined to comment. Fluor and Jacobs Engineering weren't available to comment.

Full story at http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN279457520100927

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