No defence for shareholders

18 November 2008 By Pierre Briancon

Dassault Aviation, the fighter planes maker, will buy the 21% stake Alcatel holds in Thales, the defence electronics company, after the government opposed a combination with Eads. Alcatel won t get the full price for the stake, and Thales shareholders will be robbed of a bid.

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Dassault Aviation, the French maker of fighter planes, has entered into exclusive negotiations with AlcatelLucent, the FrancoUS telecom equipment company, for the acquisition of the latter's 20.8% stake in Thales, the electronics defense company.

The transaction would be based on a E38 share price for Thales, valuing the deal at E1.6bn.

Dassault already owns a 5.2% stake in Thales. The French state owns another 27% of the company.

Shares of Thales are currently trading at a little over E30, giving the company a E6bn market capitalisation.

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