In the foot

15 May 2009 By Pierre Briancon

Planemaker Dassault bought 26% of the defence electronics group, but promised it wouldn t try to manage the larger company. Now it has teamed up with the French government to do just that, by unseating its CEO. That s bad for minority shareholders and for Thales business.

This content is for Subscribers only

Context News

The French prime minister's office on Friday threw its weight behind a controversial candidate to the job of chief executive of Thales, the French defence and security electronics group.

Dassault Aviation, the plane maker that recently upped its stake in Thales to 26%, has been trying to unseat current CEO Denis Ranque in the last few months. The French state owns 27% of Thales. Luc Vigneron, who currently heads Nexter, a stateowned maker of landdefence systems, will take over at Thales' shareholders meeting next week.

Thales booked E650m in net profit in 2008 on revenue of E12.6bn. Its current market capitalisation stands at a little over E6bn.

Email a friend

Please complete the form below.

Required fields *