Thales Group in No Rush To Acquire EADS Astrium

摘要

Thales Group's acquisition of Alcatel's space business will not be followed by a Thales purchase of Europe's other main satellite builder, EADS Astrium, anytime soon and would never occur before being thoroughly vetted by Europe's satellite customers, Thales Chairman Denis Ranque said. Seeking to dampen speculation that Thales will buy EADS Astrium as part of a French government-orchestrated maneuver to consolidate Europe's defense-electronics industry, Ranque said satellite customers' views are central to any future consolidation decisions.