Thales, DCN agree naval merger

Agreement was reached in late January for the merger of DCN with Thales’ naval business interests in France. The move, which will give Thales a 25 per cent stake in DCN, is seen as an important step towards the longer-term consolidation of Europe’s naval ships and systems industry.

Under the agreement, DCN will acquire Thales’ naval businesses in France (with the exception of its naval equipment businesses) and become the sole shareholder of Armaris and MOPA2, the prime contractor for France’s PA2 future aircraft carrier programme. As DCN’s ‘industry stakeholderpartner’, Thales will be able to play an active role on the DCN board and contribute to DCN’s continuing growth. Over the next two years, Thales will have an option to increase its stake to 35 per cent.

The ‘convergence’ operation will complete shortly, following clearance by France’s competition watchdogs and the Commission des Participations et Transferts. The ‘new’ DCN will employ just over 13,000 employees. The combined group has an order book worth more than _10bn, and recorded pro forma revenues of almost _3bn in 2006. Both companies can be found here at IDEX in the French Pavilion – DCN on Stand 1300 and Thales on OD170.