Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. (HII) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of W International (comprised of both W International SC LLC, and Vivid Empire SC LLC, a South Carolina-based complex metal fabricator specializing in the manufacture of shipbuilding structures, modules and assemblies.
Upon completion of the transaction, the manufacturing facility in Goose Creek, S.C., will operate within HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division. The site will support the construction of nuclear-powered submarine and aircraft carrier modules and structures for Navy programs. Substantially all current employees will be offered positions with HII to continue to work on site, the statement read.
“HII is committed to increasing build rates for our Navy customer, and this investment in capacity alongside the Navy will help us do that,” HII president and CEO Chris Kastner said. “It lets us efficiently add trained talent and state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities to the urgent job of building ships, making it a unique opportunity to accelerate throughput at Newport News Shipbuilding in support of the Navy and AUKUS.”
The acquired assets include advanced production facilities with the equipment, tooling and infrastructure used to fabricate complex metal modules and structures. The facilities are located on a leased 45-acre site with over 480,000 square feet of manufacturing space. The site also has access to barge and rail.
HII states the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024, subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals and required contractual modifications from HII’s Navy customer and other third parties.
