"In Cobham, we stand to lose yet another great British defense manufacturer to foreign ownership," said Nadine Cobham, whose late husband was a son of the company's founder.

"In one of its first major economic decisions, the government is not taking back control so much as handing it away," she said, adding that the announcement on the weekend before Christmas had been timed to avoid scrutiny.
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Advent has already won approval from regulators in the European Union, United States and Finland for its acquisition of Cobham, which was backed by shareholders in September. The U.S. private equity group also bought British electronics company Laird for $1.65 billion last year.