Thales shareholders back Alcatel-Lucent deal
Fri Jan 5, 2007 8:25am ET
By Tim Hepher
PARIS, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Defence group Thales (TCFP.PA: Quote, Profile , Research) won shareholder support on Friday for a 1.7 billion euro ($2.24 billion) deal to absorb Alcatel-Lucent's (ALU.PA: Quote, Profile , Research) space and transport activities in return for cash and a bigger stake.
The deal will see the newly merged French-American group Alcatel-Lucent strengthen its position as Thales's second largest shareholder in a new shareholder pact with the French state, which remains the biggest shareholder in Thales.
The deal was designed partly to put sensitive military satellite work carried out for France by Alcatel beyond the reach of U.S. executives and shareholders in Lucent, echoing similar U.S. measures to shield Lucent's work for the Pentagon.
But Chief Executive Denis Ranque also painted a business rationale for the deal, telling shareholders it would boost Thales's role in critical infrastructure and help it take advantage of dual-technology links between civil and defence.
The former Alcatel assets have a combined revenue of 1.9 billion euros and include its shares in Franco-Italian space ventures as well as its Transport Solutions unit, the world's second largest railway signals maker after Siemens (SIEGn.DE: Quote, Profile , Research).
"We are not only a defence group, we are now a group balanced between three sectors," Ranque said. Continued...
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