2023-12-06 09:58:24
The French group Safran has not ruled out protesting once morest Italy’s decision to block part of its plan to purchase the flight control systems business of Collins Aerospace, for an amount of $1.8 billion. , declared Olivier Andries, Chairman and CEO of Safran.
Last month, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni vetoed the acquisition of Collins’ Italian subsidiary Microtecnica under special “golden power” rules, citing national security and concerns regarding future of a “strategic” asset.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to Morocco, Mr. Andries said any political solution to the impasse would be apparent relatively quickly, but expressed little optimism that it would come to fruition.
“If this is not the case, we do not rule out protesting. It is possible to challenge the decisions taken by the administration,” he said.
Meloni’s office declined to comment.
Under Italian rules, Safran can appeal a takeover veto to an administrative court. Previous attempts to change similar decisions, however, have failed.
In April last year, an Italian administrative court ruled valid the government’s veto of Chinese company Syngenta’s purchase of seed producer Verisem, following the agrochemical giant attempted to reverse the decision.
The Italian approval mechanism is designed to protect what are considered key national assets and has been used by governments to fend off attempts to buy assets such as banks and energy companies by foreign suitors.
Mr Andries said a third scenario would be to move forward without the Italian part of the deal, although this would depend on a renegotiation.
“We remain committed to the transaction because these businesses represent only 15% of Collins’ business,” Andries told reporters, adding that the most attractive parts of the total assets purchased were in France and Britain.
“The seller remains a seller.”
To explain the decree, which has not been published in full, an Italian government source said last month that Safran had not provided sufficient guarantees to preserve production lines in Italy.
The source also said that Italy had held discussions with the German government regarding the Safran deal and that Germany had highlighted the risk that the deal might hamper spare parts and services for the Safran programs. Eurofighter and Tornado combat aircraft.
Mr Andries said Germany had indicated it would have no objection if Safran might guarantee continuity of service, which it would be happy to do.
Two German government sources said last month that Berlin had not asked Rome to ban the buyout, but that it was important to take steps to ensure the continued supply of spare parts for the plane programs Eurofighter and Tornado combat aircraft.
This spat is the latest example of recurring tensions between France and Italy over cross-border transactions in recent years.
In 2017, France decided to nationalize the STX France shipyard to prevent the Italian company Fincantieri from taking majority control, which triggered Rome’s anger over President Emmanuel Macron’s first major decision on industrial policy.
Mr Macron and Mr Meloni’s right-wing government clashed last year over issues such as migration. (Reporting by Tim Hepher and Giuseppe Fonte; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Mark Potter)
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