Ball aerospace unit draws interest from PE firms, defense suitors, Reuters says

Private equity firms are competing against large defense companies to acquire the aerospace unit of Ball Corp (BALL), which provides aerospace and national defense hardware and could be worth over $5B, people familiar with the matter told Reuters’ David Carnevali and Mike Stone. Blackstone (BX) and Veritas Capital Fund Management as well as defense companies BAE Systems (BAESY), General Dynamics (GD) and Textron (TXT) have expressed interest in the business, said the sources, who added that Ball is expected to invite final bids for the unit by the end of July.