(Reuters) -British defence group BAE Systems said on Thursday it agreed to buy Ball Aerospace business from Ball Corp for about $5.55 billion in cash.

BAE said it expected the deal to add to its earnings per share and margins in the first year post completion.

Reuters had reported in July that private equity firms Blackstone Inc and Veritas Capital Fund Management were competing against defence companies such as BAE, General Dynamics Corp and Textron to buy the business.

(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Subhranshu Sahu)