Swedish defence and aeronautics group Saab said on Thursday it was heading towards the acquisition of a submarine shipyard in Sweden owned by German ThyssenKrupp.
Saab, which announced in April it had a memorandum of understanding on buying the subsidiary ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, said in a statement that "the discussions are at a final stage but still ongoing".
The financial details of a possible deal were not disclosed by the group.
"The memorandum of understanding is in line with Saab’s ambition to expand its activities in the naval area and meets the needs of Sweden for an industrial solution regarding design, production and maintenance of submarines and warships," Saab said in the April statement.
Sweden is one of the world's biggest arms exporters per capita, and Saab is the country's main defence equipment company.
The Swedish group reacted to a report in regional paper Blekinge Laens Tidning, which speculated on an imminent agreement citing sources linked to the negotiation.
"Only the details need to be sorted out for the transaction to be completed," the newspaper wrote.
"The sale should be official by the end of the week."
The subsidiary, formerly known as Kockums, operates in the southern Swedish ports of Malmoe, Karlskrona and Muskoe and has about 1,000 employees.
Saab's shares were down by 0.24 percent on the Stockholm stock market in morning trading. The overall market was down 0.30 percent.