Aircraft-engine manufacturer Safran is to purchase seat supplier Zodiac Aerospace for almost 10 billion euros in an all-French deal.
Safran — a partner with General Electric in the CFM International alliance, which makes engines for short-haul jets — is buying Zodiac after the latter’s share price fell by over 20% in two years due to a logjam in the production of seats for the latest Airbus A350 wide-body plane.
Safran CEO Philippe Petitcolin said: “The deal will create the world’s third-biggest aerospace supplier — behind GE and United Technologies — and accelerate the return of Zodiac’s interiors operations to historical levels of profitability.
“It will unite Safran activities spanning turbines, landing gear, brakes and avionics with Zodiac’s seats, fuel, lighting, safety and power-distribution gear.”
Mr Petitcolin will run the combined group, with Zodiac chairman Olivier Zarrouati as his deputy. It will have 92,000 employees (about half of them in France) and annual revenues of more than 20 billion euros.
Paris-based Safran made an approach for Zodiac in 2010 but backed down following a negative reaction from the Zodiac board.