General Dynamics Announces Early Termination Of HSR Waiting Period For Proposed Acquisition Of Force Protection

FALLS CHURCH, Va., Dec. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice has granted early termination of the waiting period required by the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act in connection with its $5.52-per-share cash tender offer to purchase the outstanding shares of common stock of Force Protection, Inc. (NASDAQ: FRPT).  As previously announced, General Dynamics and Force Protection agreed to the terms of the acquisition on November 7 following the approval by the board of directors of each company.  Termination of the waiting period satisfies one of the conditions of the tender offer necessary for the acquisition to proceed.

Other closing conditions remain to be satisfied, including the requirement that a minimum number of Force Protection shares are tendered in the offer as described in the Offer to Purchase.  The complete Offer to Purchase, as amended, has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and can be viewed online at www.sec.gov.

Under the terms of the offer, Force Protection shareholders will receive a 31 percent premium over Force Protection's closing share price on the trading day before the proposed acquisition was announced. General Dynamics expects the transaction to be completed by year-end 2011.  The transaction is expected to be accretive to General Dynamics' earnings in 2012.

The tender offer will remain open for Force Protection shareholders to tender their shares until midnight Eastern Standard Time on the evening of Friday, December 16, 2011, unless it is extended through the procedures described in the Offer to Purchase.

Force Protection, which has approximately 1,100 employees, provides survivability solutions to support the armed forces of the United States and its allies. Based in Summerville, S.C., Force Protection designs, manufactures, tests, delivers and supports its blast- and ballistic-protected products to increase survivability for the users.  More information about Force Protection is available at www.forceprotection.net.

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., is a market leader in business aviation; land and expeditionary combat vehicles and systems, armaments, and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and mission-critical information systems and technology.  More information about General Dynamics is available at www.generaldynamics.com.

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