Lagardere and Alcatel Alsthom are to have a second chance of bidding for Thomson-CSF, following the French Government's decision to relaunch the privatisation of the defence-electronics giant with a search for industrial partners.
Lagardère had emerged as the original winner in 1996, but the Government's decision was overturned by its own privatisation committee, which objected to plans to float off the Thomson group's heavily indebted consumer-electronics arm to South Korea's Daewoo. This time Thomson-CSF, which is 42% publicly owned, is being sold on its own. Alcatel has signalled its enthusiasm for a chance to re-enter the contest, and has strengthened its bid by bringing together a coalition of Aerospatiale and Dassault.
Source: Flight International