BAE weighs up transatlantic options
BAE Systems (BAE), the UK’s dominant aerospace and defence group, has brushed off a £7 billion merger bid from French rival Thales, choosing instead to focus attention on a possible transatlantic tie-up, according to newspaper reports.
Mike Turner, BAE’s chief executive, admitted that Thales CEO Denis Ranque had made an informal offer last week but it had been turned down.
BAE may move to merge with Boeing, market value of $28 billion, Lockheed Martin or General Dynamics, allowing BAE to share some of the US defence budget and profit from new technologies.
According to one BAE executive, one thing was for sure – an Anglo-French deal in the present climate would be ‘pretty daft’.
If the UK aerospace giant went down the route of a BAE-Boeing tie-up, it is thought its 20 per cent stake in Airbus, rival of Boeing, would be cut loose.
BAE is thought to have had discussions with ministers at the Department of Trade and Industry, with a view to garnering support for a possible merger later in 2003.
