Weak Leonardo, rumours of stalled negotiations with Airbus and Thales
The Italian group and Thales top management ask for more time. But Cingolani says he is ready to convene an extraordinary board meeting
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) A weak session for Leonardo (-0.87% to €54.88), which slipped to the bottom of the list at the start of the day before recovering slightly. According to the French daily La Tribune, talks with Airbus (+0.62% to €202.40) on the creation of a European satellite champion had stalled, as the Italian group and the French company Thales had asked for more time. The CEO, Roberto Cingolani, said that the first agreement for the satellite alliance between Leonardo, Thales and Airbus "could be a matter of days or weeks".
«Questo stallo evidenzia le difficoltà strutturali nella realizzazione di fusioni in Europa, anche quando la logica industriale appare difensiva e condivisa da tutti», commentano gli analisti di Citi, evidenziando che l'operazione mira «a contrastare i margini deboli del settore satellitare europeo e a rispondere alla crescente concorrenza delle aziende statunitensi», a partire dalla Starlink di Elon Musk. «A 15 mesi dall’inizio dei colloqui, l’iniziativa sembra essersi bloccata». Tuttavia, secondo Citi, se l'operazione dovesse fallire del tutto, l'impatto per i tre gruppi sarebbe «contenuto», in quanto, anche la stessa fusione avrebbe «benefici modesti». A metà settembre, il ceo della divisione Defence and Space di Airbus, Michael Schoellhorn, aveva spiegato che un accordo tra Airbus, Leonardo e Thales richiede tempo e un duplice passaggio: la firma e la fase che porta alla vera e propria chiusura dell’accordo. In questo caso «credo che la firma possa essere già nel 2025», aveva p
Leonardo's stock has been on the rise since the beginning of the year, gaining more than 111%, mainly supported by the prospects of an increase in European defence spending. Today the group also received an upgrade from Morgan Stanley, which raised its target price to EUR 65 (from EUR 63). A move that is not enough to support the stock at the moment. The German giant Rheinmetall (-0.48%) is also down, while the French group Safran is defending itself.
Meanwhile, the company's CEO explained that the satellite alliance between Leonardo, Thales and Airbus 'could be a matter of days or weeks: the boards are looking at the numbers, I hope it will be done'. On the sidelines of the inauguration of Thales Alenia Space's Space Smart Factory at Tecnopolo Tiburtino, he also said: 'These are very complex processes, we have worked on governance, we have agreed on everything, then there are the boards where there are components representing the States that make assessments not only on technology and business but also on national issues'. The manager announced that he had already informed the Leonardo board of directors and that he was ready to convene an extraordinary board meeting for the go-ahead when all the elements have been defined.
