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| - Rolls-Royce said Tuesday it had halted its planned sale of a Norwegian engine maker to a Russian company, after Norway said it might exercise a veto in the name of national security. Rolls-Royce announced in early February that it would sell Bergen Engines for around 150 million euros ($179 million) to TMH Group, a privately owned company headquartered in Russia that makes locomotives and rail equipment. But Norway's government said the Norwegian National Security Authority had informed the UK aerospace company that the authority was "considering if the planned sale of Bergen Engines AS to TMH group should be stopped in accordance with the security act." Bergen Engines, which employs 950 people, has been part of Rolls-Royce since 1999, servicing engines for Norwegian Navy vessels and, according to local media reports, for the top-secret intelligence gathering ship Marjata. "The government has been studying this matter for the last month, and can't rule out that the sale of Bergen engines to TMH Group could pose risks to national security interests," Justice Minister Monica Maeland said in a statement. "There is therefore a need to halt this process to gather sufficient information to evaluate the transaction," she added. The centre-right government has been under pressure by the opposition in recent days over the security implications of the deals. In a comment to AFP, Rolls-Royce it had complied with the government's demands. "We alerted the Government in the proper way before announcing the sale of Bergen Engines. We understand, however, that the Norwegian Government now wishes to further investigate the deal and Rolls-Royce will cooperate in any way we can with that review," Rolls-Royce spokesman Richard Wray said in an email to AFP. "As requested, we have paused the sales process," Wray added. Wray also noted that the sale of Bergen Engines was "only a very small part" of the two billion pound ($2.8 billion, 2.3 billion euros), divestment programme announced last August to strengthen the company's finances. phy/clp/jll/rl
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