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Farage backer takes £150m stake in secret laser weapons contractor QinetiQ

 Christopher Harborne
Christopher Harborne

A major donor to Nigel Farage’s political party Reform UK has quickly built up a £150m stake in the Ministry of Defence research spin-off QinetiQ, becoming the third-biggest shareholder in less than a month.

Christopher Harborne, 59, a Thailand-based businessman who has given £13.7m to Reform UK, formerly known as the Brexit Party, has quietly built up a 7.1pc holding in QinetiQ, which makes robots for the military and is developing top-secret laser weapons technology.

Mr Harborne hit the headlines during the 2019 election when it emerged that he has a Thai name, Chakrit Sakunkrit, under which he is listed on Companies House.

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The purchase puts him just behind pensions giants Schroders and BlackRock on the shareholders register for QinetiQ, and the largest individual investor by far.

His acquisition comes at a time of increasing scrutiny for would-be investors in arms companies.

The Government has indicated that it could accept the takeover of one of Britain’s most sensitive defence companies, Ultra Electronics, after ordering officials to explore a plan to allow the sale to go ahead while preserving the UK’s ability to make nuclear submarines.

US private equity firm Advent is trying to buy the company in a process that began in July.

Since the start of the year, the Government has had increased powers to scrutinise and block takeovers that may have an impact on national security, although Mr Harborne would need to up his stake to more than 25pc to trigger those rules.

He made the purchase through AML Global Ltd, a Singapore-based fuel distribution company which he owns outright.

It is unclear whether Mr Harborne plans to expand his stake or demand a seat on the company’s board of directors. Records suggest he has not previously taken a large stake in a prominent public company.

The holding of 41 million shares was worth just over £150m at the end of trading on Wednesday, before the stock market closed for the long Jubilee weekend.

While the Government owns golden shares in large defence companies such as BAE Systems and Rolls Royce, it reduced its influence over Qinetiq in 2012.

Profiles of Mr Harborne suggest he made his money in tech investing, but the extent of his wealth is not known, and neither is his ability to increase his stake, should he wish to.

Mr Harborne began his business career as a consultant for McKinsey and later became an executive at Walkers and then PepsiCo.

Mr Harborne did not respond to a request for comment. QinetiQ declined to comment.

The QinetiQ Banshee Jet 80+ drone being launched from HMS Prince of Wales - Royal Navy/Crown Copyright/ PA
The QinetiQ Banshee Jet 80+ drone being launched from HMS Prince of Wales - Royal Navy/Crown Copyright/ PA

QinetiQ was formed in 2001 from Britain’s top-secret defence laboratories - when the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (Dera) was split in two. The majority was privatised as QinetiQ, while the remainder became the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.

Its prospects are thought to have brightened, as with many defence companies, in the wake of Russia’s attack on Ukraine and heightened tensions in the East as China builds up its own military might.

The most famous of its arms is robotics, made for reconnaissance and bomb disposal, while it is also developing models to operate with drones for surveillance.

QinetiQ also tests equipment for its customers, makes software for training and cyber security, operates MoD firing ranges, makes armour for the wings of planes and vehicles and has even designed space rockets.

The reticence of ethical funds to invest in defence companies and the cheap valuations they attract in the UK compared to US companies amid a weaker pound had made them attractive purchases to buyout firms.