Gilbert Sedbon/PARIS
SNECMA CHAIRMAN Bernard Dufour has dismissed the idea of General Electric taking a stake in the French group, if and when it comes up for privatisation.
Previous comments from Snecma, under Dufour's predecessor Gerard Renon, had suggested that the group was open to GE taking a minority stake. Eugene Murphy, head of the GE engine business, further increased speculation during the Paris air show in June by indicating interest from the US group.
Dufour has expressed his public opposition to such a deal, however, claiming that it would upset the joint-venture alliance within CFM International.
Although Snecma is officially on the French Government's privatisation list, Dufour adds that he favours continued state control of the group.
"For an aero-engine builder, I consider that state partnership is inevitable for survival," he says, claiming that, even after a partial privatisation, the state would retain control over key strategic decisions.
Dufour hints that any privatisation would leave a controlling 51% share in Government hands, with the remainder going to private French institutions or industry partners.
Snecma has already hived off its landing-gear operation into the Messier-Dowty joint venture, and is talking to BFGoodrich about a merger for its Messier-Bugatti brakes business. Dufour says that he has not yet received French Government approval for the merger, and the deal may have run into political difficulties.
The French defence ministry, which is still studying the deal, is understood to be anxious to keep key technology within France.
Source: Flight International
