THE Hampshire firm that hit the headlines when their equipment was attacked by a "sex crazed" octopus has been sold to Swedish defence giant Saab for £13m.

It's a massive development for Fareham based Seaeye Holdings, a specialist in unmanned underwater vehicles, which was started in the founder's garage in 1986.

The firm's 80 staff, who found out about the deal yesterday, have been assured all jobs are safe and that the company plans to remain in Fareham and expand.

Chief executive Chris Tarmey, who is one of three shareholders and owns 70 per cent of the company, said they were now looking for new premises to combine their two buildings with room for new skilled staff.

He bought the firm for an undisclosed sum in 1999 when turnover was £2.5m and profits were £500,000. Today profits are touching £3m on a turnover of £12m.

Seaeye Holdings and its subsidiary Seaeye Marine have made a major name for themselves in unmanned underwater vehicles supplying the Russian, American and French Navies as well as the oil and gas industry.

Saab, which is 20 per cent owned by Hampshire based defence firm BAe and is separate from the General Motors owned car maker, hopes to use Seaeye's technology to develop commercial applications for its remotely operated vehicles. Seaeye engineers, meanwhile, are said to be "very excited" about getting access to Saab's cutting-edge military technology.

"We were looking for an exit and we think we've found a good home that will be good for the company going forward," said Chris, who stays on as chief executive. "It had got to a point when we needed someone to take us to the next level. We needed to get together with someone bigger like Saab who has deep pockets.'' The firm made headlines around the world when a Seaeye vehicle working with cable on the sea floor off Vancouver, Canada, was attacked by a territorial 16-foot octopus, the hi-tech camera capturing all the drama on film.

"By the time the story got from the local press to Scotland, it had become a sex-crazed octopus, the biggest ever seen which had attacked and eaten our ROV,'' remembers Chris.