Leonardo: set to present the Bromo project to the EU for approval of a joint venture with Airbus and Thales (FT)
CEOs Mariani and Faury: "Europe must join forces; we need scale"
Leonardo, Airbus and Thales are close to submitting a formal application to Brussels for authorisation of the Bromo project, an industrial alliance in the satellite sector, and senior executives are pressing the EU to grant the go-ahead, which would create a hub deemed essential for competing with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The Financial Times highlights this, noting that both Leonardo’s CEO, Lorenzo Mariani, and Airbus’s CEO, Guillaume Faury, have issued statements in recent days to explain the strategic significance of the project.
"Their statements come at a time when the companies are set to submit a formal application to the European competition authorities," writes the FT – The European Commission, the EU’s competition authority, has recently published new guidelines on mergers that may place greater emphasis on the benefits derived from the scale of businesses when competing in a global market. The merger in the space sector is seen in Brussels as one of the first test cases for the new merger policy". A ruling from Brussels is not expected until the second half of 2027, and several criticisms have already been raised by players in the space sector, such as Germany’s OHB and Spain’s Indra Space, over fears that the Leonardo-Airbus-Thales alliance will reduce competition in the market.
“I am optimistic about the outcome because I believe everyone realises that this is a crucial step for Europe’s presence and importance in space,” said Mariani. “Space is a growing sector that is evolving very rapidly. We have seen interesting developments in the United States and around the world. The very least Europe can do is to join forces.” Without consolidation, Europe risks ending up “from the Champions League to the lower leagues”, said Faury, using a sporting metaphor: “We have the expertise, we have the capabilities, we have the technologies, but we lack the scale.”
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