THE GERMAN DEFENCE ministry has blocked an attempt by British Aerospace to form an Anglo-German consortium to buy German defence-electronics company STN Atlas.
BAe was hoping to team up with Daimler-Benz Aerospace for a joint bid, until the ministry intervened, saying that it wanted the company to go to a German buyer. The defence ministry's reaction highlights continuing resistance in Continental Europe to pan-national defence consolidation.
BAe remains interested in STN's radar, command-and-control and sonar capabilities, and may still place an independent bid by the 15 September deadline, with a view possibly to setting up a consortium. The UK firm is also seeking to extend its reach into defence electronics with an expected bid for Thomson-CSF, as part of a Matra-led team, when the French concern is privatised this year.
Lockheed Martin and Thomson-CSF are understood to be among about 15 companies interested in placing bids, while the defence ministry's favoured potential buyer is a German consortium believed to include Diehl, Rheinmetall and Wegmann. STN Atlas is a member of the now bankrupt Bremer Vulkan engineering group, but remains profitable.
Source: Flight International
