They do these things rather differently in West Germany, and where it is almost inconceivable that a business with 1,000 employees and estimated annual sales of $150m could go to just two individuals in a buy-out, that is what has happened to Philips NV’s Systeme & Sondertechnik defence subsidiary: it is being acquired by DST Deutsche SystemTechnik GmbH, a company formed for the purpose and equally owned by Bruno Jacobi, managing director of the unit, and Hans-Jrg Zobel, who had been marketing director of the business until last March, when he quit to become European sales director for Concurrent Computer Corp; terms of the buy-out – and where the cash for it is coming from, have not been disclosed.
