Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Andy Nativi/GENOA
Finmeccanica and EADS have shelved their long-running talks over the possible merger of Alenia Spazio and European space company Astrium. The suspension follows the emergence of Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Loral of the USA as potential bidders for Alenia Spazio, wholly-owned by the Italian state holding company (Flight International, 31 October - 6 November).
EADS says the Italian delegation asked for the "Astrium plus" discussions to be put on hold (in mid-December) to allow them to concentrate on the pending formation of European Military Aircraft (EMAC). EADS say the 50:50 joint venture between it and Finmeccanica should be finalised by the end of this quarter.
Under the terms of a 1998 heads of agreement signed by Finmeccanica and former Marconi Electronic Systems, Lagardère and Dasa, it was envisioned that the enlarged Astrium would be equally owned by Matra Marconi Space, Dasa and Finmeccanica. However, the formation of EADS and the acquisition of Marconi by BAE Systems led to the eventual agreement that Astrium would be 75%-owned by EADS, with the UK company holding the rest.
EADS says the offer for Finmeccanica to take 33% of "Astrium plus" in return for folding Alenia Spazio into the venture remains on the table. However, EADS (in consultation with BAE) and Finmeccanica decided to suspend the talks because market conditions at the time of the 1998 agreement "have been substantially altered as a result of the merger of some of the signatories and the subsequent re-organisation of their space-related activities".
Sources in Italy, however, suggest that the proposed partners have struggled to satisfy Finmeccanica's request for an equal stake (or at least equal voting power) with a veto on strategic issues. Alenia Spazio was also keen to retain some of its areas of expertise.
Finmeccanica started to explore possible alternatives in mid-2000, including talks with Alcatel, although that partnership has now been ruled out. A US deal appears more likely, with Boeing and Lockheed Martin executives recently visiting Rome for discussions. Alenia Spazio is already working with Boeing on its Connexion system. US companies are attracted to Alenia Spazio particularly due to its involvement in European Space Agency programmes. The Italian company could never achieve equal partnership with one of the US giants, however, but to remain alone is not considered viable in the medium term, sources say.
EADS co-chairman Dr Manfred Bischoff says he is "still optimistic" that an agreement will be reached, adding that his company has "already offered concessions" aimed at reassuring the Italians that they would enjoy a significant level of influence in an enlarged Astrium. Bischoff points out that EADS continues to work closely with Alenia Spazio on space-related projects.
Source: Flight International
