acceptances for the acquisition of International Nuclear Solutions PLC reached 58.9% of issued share capital, and a takeover was then completed. On 22 April 2008, to further strengthen the brand in the Nuclear sector and submarine support sector, Babcock acquired Strachan & Henshaw from the Weir Group for £65m; at the time of the transaction, the company had over fifty years of experience in high integrity material handling. In September 2009, Babcock acquired the UK Atomic Energy Authority's commercial arm, UKAEA Ltd; this acquisition extended Babcock's existing nuclear skills, bringing additional expertise in waste categorisation, decommissioning of high hazard facilities, encapsulation and storage of hazardous materials and transportation of waste. The deal also provided Babcock with its first operational Tier 1 position in the civil nuclear market and a direct relationship with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, complementing its existing Tier 1 position in the military nuclear market. 2010 to present In March 2010, Babcock acquired VT Group for £1.32bn or 750p a share; the firm offered 361.6p per share in cash, as well as 0.7 new Babcock shares for each VT Group share. The acquisition, which was completed on 8 July 2010, created a combined defence and support services group that annually accrued sales of £3bn and had more than 25,000 employees, which were mainly based in Britain and the United States. As a result of the merger, Babcock took over the contract to operate the Defence High Frequency Communications Service on behalf of the Ministry of Defence; this contract was originally awarded to VT Merlin Communications in 2003, for a period of fifteen years. During March 2014, it was announced that Babcock had agreed to wholly acquire Avincis Group, including its subsidiary Bond Aviation Group, in exchange for £1.6 billion. The former Avincis units was subsequently rebranded under the Babcock name in January 2015. In July 2013, Babcock's Support Services division acquired Conbras Serviços Técnicos de Suporte LTDA in Brazil for a cash consideration of £18.2 million plus deferred consideration of £4.4 million. In April 2014, Babcock Dounreay Partnership (BDP), a consortium of Babcock International Group PLC (50%), CH2M Hill (30%) and URS (20%) was selected as preferred bidder and eventually awarded a £1.6bn contract by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority for the management and decommissioning of the Dounreay nuclear site in Scotland. In November 2014, Babcock was named as the British Government's preferred buyer of the land repair and