Thales, Europe’s third largest civil and defense aerospace group, makes its first appearance at Le Bourget since it acquired a new shareholder and executive board last month. The move, in which Dassault Aviation becomes a major active player following the ouster of long-time CEO Denis Ranque after a three-way struggle between the Thales board of directors, the French government and Dassault, follows years of uncertainty regarding Thales’s shareholding structure and strengthens the government’s domestic hold on a leading national defense group. Thales, meanwhile,, says it is managing to move through the crisis and for the time being anticipates no layoffs, seeks stronger relationships with its subcontractors and suppliers, and is focusing on customer service.
After 11 years at the helm, Ranque fell under the sword of Dassault and the French government in a coup at Thales’s annual shareholder’s meeting on May 19. The move follows Dassault Aviation’s acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent’s 20.8-percent equity in the group for about E1.57 billion ($2.16 billion) following the French-U.S. group’s difficulties.
