PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus and Thales are in preliminary discussions over a possible merger of some of their space businesses, industry sources told Reuters on Monday.
Earlier, La Tribune reported that the two groups were holding “exploratory” discussions to merge their space activities.
The talks are about satellite activities, the sources told Reuters.
Airbus and Thales declined to comment.
The Airbus Defence & Space division, headquartered in Germany, employs more than 100,000 people and is one of the world’s largest suppliers to the space industry.
At Thales, the Alenia Space division, in which Italian arms manufacturer Leonardo holds a minority stake, produces high-tech solutions for telecommunications, navigation and surveillance, mainly in the field of satellites.
On the Paris Stock Exchange, Thales shares fell by 0.12% in early trading and Airbus shares lost 0.3%.
(Written by Augustin Turpin, with Tassilo Hummel, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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