Lockheed Martin Cuts Deal To Sell Unit

Lockheed Martin Corp. agreed to sell its commercial electronics manufacturing unit to closely held Manufacturers’ Services Ltd., another step to shed product lines that don’t fit with its main aerospace and information-processing businesses.

Terms of the transaction, which is expected to be completed October, weren’t disclosed. Manufacturers’ Services is majority-owned by a unit of New York investment bank Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette.

The acquisition boosts Manufacturers’ Services to the world’s fourth-largest contract manufacturer of electronic components that go into computers, phones and other devices from the eighth-largest, the company said. It will also expand Manufacturers’ into the testing of finished electronic-system components.

Lockheed Martin’s commercial electronics business, based in Hudson, N.H., had revenue of about $300 million last year. All of the unit’s 700 workers, including Roger Damphousse, who manages the business for Lockheed Martin, are expected to work for Manufacturers’.