LONDON - The aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce said on Thursday that it had been in preliminary discussions about possibly acquiring the Finnish manufacturer Wartsila Corporation, but that those talks had ceased.
An acquisition of Wartsila would have expanded Rolls-Royce’s marine engine and energy businesses, which combined for revenue of 1.73 billion pounds, or about $2.85 billion, in the first half of 2013, the most recent numbers available.
By comparison, Rolls-Royce’s civil and defense aerospace businesses had a combined revenue of about £4.4 billion in the first half of 2013.
“Those discussions are no longer continuing,†Rolls-Royce said in a statement.
Bloomberg News, citing people familiar with the talks, said the discussions had centered around Wartsila’s marine engine business.
Wartsila, the Finnish maker of ship engines and power plant equipment, had 4.7 billion euros, or about $6.4 billion, in revenue in 2012 and employed 18,900 people in 70 countries.
The marine engines business accounted for about 28 percent of Wartsila’s revenue in 2012, but is closely intertwined with its services segment, which provides maintenance and other support to customers for its engines and power plant equipment. The services business accounted for €1.9 billion in revenue in 2012.
“We confirm the approach by Rolls-Royce with a preliminary proposal for a possible offer for the company,†Wartsila said in a statement. “In case the company receives such proposals, the Wartsila Board has an obligation to evaluate such proposals.â€
Rolls-Royce warned in November that it expected revenue in its marine business to be “broadly flat†for 2013.
In 2011, Rolls-Royce and Daimler teamed up to take control of Tognum, the German maker of engines for ships, trains and oil and natural gas drilling operations.
A separate company, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, is owned by BMW, which bought the license for the brand name in 1998.
