Brussels, 19/06/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has authorised the acquisition of the British company Racal by French Thomson-CSF. It considers there will remain "sufficient competition in the field of electronics systems for both commercial and military use", the two sectors in which the two companies are specialised.
In the defence field, the Commission considers that this new operation for restructuring of the sector should not give Thomson-CSF and Racal a dominant position compared to the other defence contractors, "capable of offering credible alternatives". "The strong buying power of defence ministries" should also come into play. British authorities nonetheless announced their intention to examine the aspects of the operation that come under public security. The Commission recalls that the Member States have effectively the right to verify protection of "legitimate interests" which are not taken into account by the Community regulation, and above all in public security matters, to give their opinion on merger operations already examined by the Commission.
Regarding civilian markets, (air traffic control systems, satellite communication, telecommunications …), the Commission does not fear that the acquisition will create or strengthen a dominant position on these markets.