Italian defence group Leonardo said on Tuesday its U.S. unit DRS had agreed to sell its satellite communications business GES to SES for $450 million, gross of taxes, to optimise its portfolio and focus on its core business.

Closing of the deal is expected for the second half of 2022, Leonardo added in a statement, confirming its net debt guidance for this year at around 3.1 billion euros ($3.40 billion).

GES is the largest provider of commercial satellite communications to the U.S. government and also supplies satellite communications and security solutions to customers across the world, Leonardo said.

($1 = 0.9111 euros)

(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak, editing by Cristina Carlevaro)