Plasan Sasa has entered a joint venture with Marshall Land Systems

Arrowpoint Advisory's Industrial sector team has advised Plasan Sasa, a major international group focused on the design and manufacture of state-of-the-art, lightweight armour solutions, on its UK market entry strategy.

Plasan has entered into a joint venture agreement with Marshall Land Systems, part of the well established Marshall of Cambridge defence and automotive group.

Already the largest supplier of lightweight blast and ballistic armour to the US armed forces, Plasan turned its focus onto the UK market, a key international market in which Plasan has enjoyed success in recent years. Recognising the importance of establishing a physical presence in the UK, Plasan appointed Arrowpoint Advisory to assess its options, ranging from agency agreement through to joint venture and acquisition.

Arrowpoint Advisory's knowledge of the UK Defence market enabled it to rapidly identify a range of credible options and open up several detailed dialogues for Plasan but the significant potential offered by working in partnership with Marshall soon became clear. Marshall, a privately-held group with revenues of 750m, has a well-established Defence business focused on Tier 2 integration for a variety of land-based and airborne systems utilised by the UK armed forces.

“This JV is a major step in the development of MLS' offering to the defence and security community and enables us to provide an even more integrated solution to our customers, with Plasan, a world leader in survivability and armour solutions,” said Peter Callaghan, Chief Executive of MLS.

“Marshall Land Systems' expertise and knowledge, and the respect with which it is held, makes it the ideal partner for Plasan, as we seek to provide even better armour protection to our defence customers in the UK,” said Dani Ziv, Chief Executive of Plasan.

The 50:50 joint venture will offer to UK end users, prime contractors and OEMs Plasan's world-leading survivability technologies. Plasan has been involved in a number of major armouring projects for the UK since 2003 including the Wheeled Tanker, HET, Viking, Chinook and most recently, the Medium Tactical Support Vehicle, which is equipped with a Plasan survivability solution designed specifically to meet UK operational requirements offering enhanced protection from ballistics threats, mines and roadside bombs.

Jeremy Furniss, Managing Director at Arrowpoint Advisory, concludes: “Plasan is keen to replicate its massive success in the US on programs such as MRAP, MTVR and most recently M-ATV in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. The JV with Marshall is a sign of Plasan's commitment to supplying its state-of-the-art armour to the UK's armed forces and its traditional export markets.”

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