Donald Trump's announcements in recent months about his projects to revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding industry seem to have aroused the appetites of Wildcat Equity Partners, Miami Beach Family Private Investment Company Nicolaides, who announced a further step in his strategy aimed at rebuilding the capacity for construction and repair naval in the United States.

After launching a counteroffer between 1.25 and 1.35 billion dollars to acquire the company's American division Australian shipbuilding Austal, surprisingly entering the tender going beyond the proposal previously presented by the South Korean defense giant Hanwha, yesterday the company led by the Chairman and CEO Eric Nicolaides announced to have signed an exclusive agreement with the owners of Fraser Industries for the acquisition of the company, which has headquartered in Superior, Wisconsin. Fraser Industries is the parent company of Fraser Shipyards LLC, Lake Assault Boats LLC, Northern Engineering LLC and Fraser Terminal LLC. These are four companies operational. The first manages the group's historic shipyard, which is one of the most important naval structures in the Great Lakes region. The second is specialized in the design and production of high-speed aluminum boats performance for tactical and emergency use. The third is specialized in mechanical engineering services and industrial repairs. The latter is responsible for the management of port and quay infrastructures of the Superior.

The offer was made through the Wildcat Defense, newly established company by Wildcat Equity Partners precisely with the aim of focusing on the acquisition, the investments and management of strategically important companies inside the U.S. defense industrial base. The proposed to invest $350 million in the construction site of Superior, with the aim of increasing Fraser's workforce and expand productive infrastructure, supporting projects already in the planning phase at the construction site. Patrick Kelly, CEO of Fraser Industries, and his team will retain key roles within the company.

Implicitly confirming Wildcat Equity's intention Partners to seize the opportunities offered by the plan government revitalization of the shipbuilding industry Eric Nicolaides highlighted that "the partnership between Wildcat and Fraser Industries comes at a time when the United States aims to modernize the infrastructure of its Shipyards, a sector of crucial importance for safety national team. We believe - he specified - that this modernization and expansion must be carried out by US companies that work to improve and expand the country's construction sites".

Announcing the transaction, Wildcat specified that under the New ownership Fraser will maintain partnerships including its commitment to working with Fincantieri and the Donjon shipyards aimed at participating in to the competition for the construction of seven lightweight icebreakers intended for the U.S. Coast Guard.

Wildcat and Fraser expect to complete the transaction by about three months.