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Alenia
Spazio Suspends Merger Talks With Astrium
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Italy's
Finmeccanica group suspended talks with Astrium regarding the
possible merger of its Alenia Aerospazio subsidiary unit with
Astrium. Discussions regarding an Astrium-Alenia Spazio merger were
suspended because the premises behind the talks "have been
substantially altered" as a result of other mergers in Europe
and the subsequent reorganization of their space-related activities.
The merger talks with Astrium had been slow because of differences
of opinion over what Alenia's ownership stake would be after the
merger. The talks had been underway since 1998.
Astrium was created
by the merger the space activities of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG
and Aerospatiale Matra. European  Aeronautic
Defence and Space Co. (EADS), owns 75% of Astrium, with Bae owning
the other 25%. Finmeccanica was reportedly worried that with sales
equivalent to 25% of that of Astrium, Alenia Aerospazio would play
only a very limited role in the venture. The Italian government
still owns 38% of the industrial group.
Finmeccanica may
now consider a partnership with Alcatel Space or with a U.S.
company. However, Alcatel Space has indicated they would only be
interested in Alenia Spazio’s  ground-hardware
and satellite production facilities and not in those parts of the
business dealing with the International Space Station.
Alenia
Aerospazio is involved in satellite manufacturing as well as
communication and remote sensing payloads. It is Europe's center of
excellence regarding pressurized modules. The company has played a
major role in the development of ESA's Columbus laboratory module
and Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), an unmanned cargo ship to
resupply the International Space Station, as well as the Node 2 and
3 modules and the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules (MPLMs) built for
NASA on behalf of the Italian Space Agency.
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