The chief executive officer of Airbus Group, Tom Enders, has said that he is open to a potential merger of its space business.
Speaking to Bloomberg on the sidelines of the ground-breaking ceremony for Airbus’ new office campus in Toulouse, Enders…
The chief executive officer of Airbus Group, Tom Enders, has said that he is open to a potential merger of its space business.
Speaking to Bloomberg on the sidelines of the ground-breaking ceremony for Airbus’ new office campus in Toulouse, Enders said the aerospace giant would consider offers for its space business both from Europe and the rest of the world.
He was quoted saying: “There are lots of interested and competent people when it comes to space around the globe. We certainly wouldn’t reject any discussion on further European consolidation if it’s going to take place. But we must not have the Pavlovian reflex to say the answer is always European.”
Alongside its rebranding from EADS, Airbus is in the process of restructuring its business. Its space focussed operations Astrium has now become part of the company’s Airbus Defence and Space division.
According to Bloomberg, Enders argued that any strategic review with regard to a potential merger of its space business would only take place once this restructuring plan had taken place, which is expected by the end of the year.
As part of the company-wide consolidation, approximately 5,800 jobs are to be cut from the Airbus DS over the next three years.
Commenting on the restructuring, Enders stated: “We need to improve our competitiveness in defence and space – and we need to do it now.
“With our traditional markets down, we urgently need to improve access to international customers, to growth markets. For that to work, we need to cut costs, eliminate product and resource overlaps, create synergies in our operations and product portfolio and better focus our research and development efforts. That’s what the restructuring and integration plan for our defence and space business is all about.”
Astrium is itself among the potential acquirers of Italian defence and rocket equipment specialist Avio alongside its European peer Thales Alenia Space and Paris-based aerospace giant Safran.
The protracted process, which began in mid-2013, is expected to reach a conclusion in the first quarter of 2014.
Airbus Defence and Space (Astrium) would not comment on the Bloomberg report.
