Finmeccanica, the Italian defence company, aims to raise up to €900m ($1.08bn) through a share sale to help fund its £1.1bn acquisition of AgustaWestland, the helicopter supplier business from UK aerospace group GKN.

Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch won the role as joint bookrunner in a placement of shares in STMicroelectronics, the Franco-Italian semiconductor company majority owned by Finmeccanica, as part of a derivatives instrument being to finance the acquisition. In addition to the €800m to €900m raised from the transaction, Finmeccanica said it will finance the deal with long-term debt. Banks are yet to be chosen.