Thales gets Alcatel’s satellites

has announced that

will buy its satellite subsidiaries for €637 million in cash and 27 million shares. Alcatel will hold a 21.6% stake in Thales, while the French state would remain the majority shareholder with 27.1%.

The deal also includes its railway signalling business and its integration and services activities for mission-critical systems.

The space assets to be transferred are Alcatel's 67% stake in the capital of Alcatel Alenia Space and its 33% share in the capital of satellite services company Telespazio.

In the Critical Security systems domains, Thales will acquire the Transport Systems activities, and the Systems Integration activities covering mainly the transport and energy sectors.

This transaction is subject to the approval of Alcatel's Board of directors within the framework of its proposed merger with Lucent Technologies, Inc, as well as the approval of its partner in satellite activities, Finmeccanica. The transaction will be further subject to regulatory approvals.