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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 1058.PDF
BUSINESS INVESTMENT RAINER UPHOFF / MADRID Finmeccanica eyes stake in Gamesa Aeronautica Spanish aerostructures manufacturer looks to alliances to add shareholder value Italian state holding company and Alenia parent Finmeccanica is in talks to acquire a large minority stake in Spanish aerostructures manufacturer Gamesa Aeronautica. Gamesa says the "conversation is at the stage where we are study ing and negotiating the different options", although "no binding document has been signed yet". It declines to comment on Spanish press reports that Alenia is prepared to buy "30% or more" of Gamesa's aeronautical unit. "These conversations are part of our strategic plan to create a power ful aeronautical group that adds value for our shareholders," Gamesa says, adding that the failed Alerion merger plan, which would have brought the company together with Spanish aerospace engineering powerhouse Sener and engine manufacturer ITP, "was a first attempt to speed up the goals" defined in the plan. While on that occasion Gamesa intended to spin off its aeronauti cal arm after the merger to float it on the stock exchange, "since the cancellation of the Alerion project, Gamesa has been open to conver sations with other aerospace com panies as the creation of value would not necessarily have to be materialised by an IPO", it says. Meanwhile, Gamesa has bought several smaller manufacturers spe cialising in composite structures, including NMF Europe and ICSA, and has taken a purchase option on Intec Air. Gamesa Aeronautica, part of the publicly traded Gamesa group and in the portfolio of industrial hold ings of the Spanish BBV Bank, is a risk-sharing partner with manufac turers such as Embraer, for which it supplies wing and fuselage assem blies for regional jets, as well as Bombardier and Sikorsky. SATELLITES NICHOLAS I0NIDES / SINGAPORE Asia Pacific fuels market recovery Arianespace is continuing to see a recovery in the market for commercial satellite launches, fuelled in large part by demand that is returning from the Asia- Pacific region. Chief executive Jean-Yves Le Gall said on a visit to Singapore that the European commercial satellite launch firm expects 15 or 16 launch services contracts to be awarded worldwide this year, of which Arianespace should win around half. This is comparable to last year's 17 worldwide contracts that were open to competition, of which eight went to Arianespace - but nowhere near the much higher lev els seen before a sharp downturn hit the sector. Nevertheless, Le Gall says it is positive as the recovery is continuing after the "real crisis of the last few years". "It was probably the biggest crisis this sector experienced since its inception 20 years ago," he says, adding that the recovery is being seen in part on the back of demand for satellites for new high definition and interactive televi sion services. Asia is also emerging as a prime market for satellite launch contracts following a glut of several years. "During the last two or three years we saw almost no contracts Le Gall: strong Asia-Pacific demand awarded in Asia," says Le Gall, "but this year there have been four for Arianespace". These have come from Australia and Japan. "Now we are seeing a good recovery in Asia Pacific," he adds, predicting that several more launch services contracts will be awarded this year by companies in the region. Before the downturn that caused losses for Arianespace in 2001 and 2002, launch services contracts were spread almost evenly between Asia, Europe and the USA. Le Gall says this year around 40% of the contracts should come from Asia, followed by around 35% from the USA and around 25% from Europe. "Today the trend is probably better in Asia than it is in Europe," he says. Arianespace expects to end the year having performed five launches of its Ariane 5. The com pany, which currently has a back log of 34 satellites to be launched, returned to profitability in 2003 with a net gain of €9.2 million ($11.2 million) on sales of €559 million. MERGERS Israel to consolidate defence industries The Israeli ministry of defence has stepped up efforts to merge the country's state-owned defence industries and consoli date their main activities, writes Arie Egozi. A major element of the plan is to rationalise the development and manufacture of missiles. Three state-owned defence companies - Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), Israel Military Industries (IMI) and Rafael-are developing missiles of different types. The plan is to merge the missile activities including the manufacture of large boosters, used in the IAI Shavit launcher and long-range ballistic missiles. Another goal is to merge unmanned air vehicle work per formed principally by IAI and IMI. The urgency in the new round of discussions stems from the growing shortage of defence funding making it almost impossi ble for the Israeli defence forces to purchase locally made sys tems while US-made ones can be purchased with US foreign milita ry funds (FMF). Other aims of the defence ministry are to slash development and manufacturing expenses so that final unit prices are lower, and reduce the competition between Israeli defence companies in the export market. "If the mergers are foiled by the workers unions, the future of some state owned companies is bleak," says one senior industry source. • Israeli flag carrier El Al is no longer a majority state-owned company after Knafaim-Arkia exercised options for the airline's shares. The Israeli government now has less than a 50% stake in El Al. By the end of the year Knafaim-Arkia, the holding com pany of Arkia, Israel's largest private airline, will have a major ity stake in El Al and all remaining shares will be in the hands of private investors and employees. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 22-28 JUNE 2004 23
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