Italy's Finmeccanica sold to British group

LONDON, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Britain's Cinven is paying $3.31 billion to buy Avio, a jet engine maker, from Italy's Finmeccanica, a military contractor, and New York's Carlyle Group.

Finmeccanica, which bought Avio from Fiat in 2003, will sell its 30 percent stake to Cinven and immediately buy back a 15 percent stake, the Financial Times reported Monday.

Carlyle, a private equity group, will sell all its 70 percent stake to Cinven, another private equity group, and Finmeccanica will have the option to increase its stake back as much as 30 percent before closing the deal.