Boeing sells small defense surveillance unit to Thales

(Reuters) -Boeing closed a deal this month to sell a small defense subsidiary that makes surveillance equipment for the U.S. military, the company said on Sunday, as the planemaker looks to shore up its struggling finances.

Boeing said in a statement that Digital Receiver Technology, which makes wireless equipment used by intelligence services, will be sold to Thales Defense & Security, an arm of Europe’s largest defence electronics firm, Thales SA.

Boeing did not disclose the terms of the deal.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on Sunday that Boeing had agreed a deal to offload a small defense subsidiary, without naming the unit.

Last week, Boeing said it could raise as much as $25 billion in stock and debt as its investment-grade credit rating comes under threat from production delays, safety problems and a month-long strike in its U.S. planemaking heartland.

Striking Boeing factory workers on the West Coast, most in Washington state, will vote on Wednesday on a new contract proposal that could end the strike, which has halted production of the 737 MAX, 767 and 777 jets.

(Reporting by Joe Brock in Los Angeles and Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)