P.M. BRIEFING : Irish Missile Firm Sold to Canadians

BELFAST, Northern Ireland —  The British government today signed over the state-owned aircraft and guided missile maker Short Brothers to the Canadian group Bombardier.

Bombardier, which makes subway rolling stock and small passenger jets, paid $48 million for Shorts. The government gave the Montreal firm $1.25 billion in aid for the privatization takeover.

“There are exciting times ahead for the aerospace industry, and I feel sure that under Bombardier’s stewardship, Shorts will prosper,” Britain’s Northern Ireland Minister Peter Brooke told Bombardier Chairman Laurent Beaudoin.

Bombardier defeated a joint bid by Dutch aircraft maker Fokker and Britain’s General Electric Co. PLC for control of the company. West Germany’s Messerschmitt-Boelkow-Blohm had earlier shown interest in acquiring Shorts, which once made biplanes under license for Orville and Wilbur Wright.