Having failed to find a single buyer for its defence businesses Gould Inc is now selling them piecemeal – and looks like getting a lot less than the $600m to $700m that it had hoped for. The Rolling Meadows, Illinois company has agreed to sell its Ocean Systems torpedo business to Westinghouse Electric for about $100m and will take a $115m charge with its fourth quarter figures mainly on the sale. It also says that it is talking with several parties for the sale of its undersea surveillance systems business, but that proceeds will be about 25% less than expected. Once the disposals are out of the way, Gould itself will become a prime acquisition candidate. GEC Plc may well be one of the companies talking now to Gould about other defence interests but is likely to be interested in the whole company. Towards the end of 1986, there were high hopes on Wall Street of a Siemens bid.
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