July decision expected on combination of European space companies

PARIS — Three European aerospace companies expect to decide by next month whether to combine their space divisions, something that could still take years to win regulatory approvals.

At a press conference during the Paris Air Show June 17, Roberto Cingolani, chief executive of Leonardo, said discussions among Airbus Defence and Space, Thales Alenia Space and his company about merging their space businesses in some way were approaching a “go/no-go” decision.

“By the end of July, we would like to have a global go/no-go about the feasibility of the initiative,” he said. That includes as assessment of antitrust concerns, due diligence regarding the companies’ finances and “value creation” such a combination would offer.

“I like to say that one plus one plus one should be bigger than three, otherwise we don’t do it,” he said.

The companies have been in talks since last year about a combination of their space businesses, an initiative sometimes referred to as Project Bromo. The purpose would be to create a single larger space venture that the companies believe would be better positioned to compete with SpaceX and others in the satellite market.

“What we expect is to gain scale and speed by consolidating the business,” Guillaume Faury, chief executive of Airbus, said in an investor call in February. He said he backed an approach like that used nearly a quarter-century ago to create MBDA, a European missile manufacturer, by combining business units at three companies.

Cingolani also said the MBDA approach was also being considered for a combined space company. “The governance can be slightly different because the products are different,” he said. “Definitely, the inspiration comes from the MBDA model.”

He said the three companies currently have 90 people studying how to combine their space units. That includes access to data rooms to review financial information. “We see if we have the same opinion about the value of the assets we contribute to the company,” he said.

The companies are also looking at the technologies and product that could be improved, or new products that could be developed, through the combination. “We are really at the last weeks,” he said of that effort. “We are up to the end.”

Speaking at the Paris Air Forum June 13, Faury was optimistic that the companies would agree to combine their space businesses. “The three of us are very aligned,” he said in translated remarks. “It is rare to be so aligned on the understanding of the playing field.”

Alain Fauré, head of space systems at Airbus Defence and Space, said at another media briefing during the Paris Air Show June 16 that the goal of the consolidation was to create a “European champion” in space better able to compete globally. “In Europe, if we step back, there is a lot of fragmentation in terms of projects, fragmentation in terms of players as well.”

The combination of the companies’ space units, he argued, would provide a “critical mass” that Europe currently lacks. “It can create a synergy. We can have, as well, the strength of the three companies to create this champion,” he said, citing scaling effects and increased volume.

He noted that, if the companies do decide on a joint venture in space of some kind, it will take time to clear European antitrust reviews before it could formally start operations. He estimated that process could take as long as two years.

Cingolani offered a similar timeframe, assuming the companies decide to go forward at that go/no-go decision point. “We have a couple of years waiting for the antitrust,” he said, “to create the company.”