A joint bid to carve up FiatAvio by Finmeccanica and Carlyle Group appeared imminent last week, with the Italian group grabbing the space side of the business and the US venture capital firm taking the remaining two-thirds.
The space activities of the troubled auto giant's aerospace subsidiary include the Vega low-cost launcher programme and the Ariane 5 booster. Under the proposed bid, Finmeccanica will drop its demand for a clause which would allow it to offload its stake within two years to Carlyle. Finmeccanica sources say the latest offer is likely to be lower than Fiat's original price of between €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) and €2 billion.
French aerospace group Snecma appears to have gone lukewarm on the possibility of its own joint bid with Finmeccanica for FiatAvio. Although the French government-owned company, which has not made a formal offer, says it is still keen, president Jean-Paul Bechat said late last month: "We only have a limited interest in FiatAvio."
Most industry observers believe the Italian government, which owns 32% of Finmeccanica, pushed the group into entering the bidding for FiatAvio to retain the company in Italian hands.
Finmeccanica's 2002 results, published last week, show a 6% fall in net consolidated profit to €200 million on a 15% increase in sales to €7.7 billion, thanks to the consolidation of missile house MBDA and acquisition of part of communications firm Marconi. Operating profit rose 7% to €441 million. FiatAvio recorded a 13% in operating profit to €210 million on consolidated earnings down 6% to €1.53 billion.
Source: Flight International