A person familiar with the situation said the government has given its backing to change rules which seek to prevent a foreign takeover of Rolls-Royce.
Nine years ago the government lifted a ban on foreign investors owning a majority of Rolls-Royce or BAE Systems to protect its defense interests, but retained limits on individual foreign shareholdings and required the majority of directors including the chief executives and executive chairmen to be British.
The person speaking on condition of anonymity said a change in the rules for Rolls-Royce had been discussed for some time and said details outlining a vote on it had been sent to investors ahead of the group’s annual meeting on Friday.
Rolls-Royce declined to comment and no one at the government was immediately available to comment.
