MBDA, a new missile company 37.5% held by BAE SYSTEMS (United Kingdom), 37.5% by EADS - EUROPEAN AERONAUTIC DEFENCE AND SPACE COMPANY (France/Germany/Spain) and 25% by the Italian FINMECCANICA, will create a joint venture in Spain. This initiatives is a further step towards the creation of a pan-European missile group, which will compete with the American RAYTHEON, world leader in the sector. The Spanish company will be 40% held MBDA, 40% by the Spanish information technology group INDRA, 10% by the Spanish ship builder IZAR and also 10% by EADS CASA, Spanish subsidiary of EADS. This initiative could be followed by the creation of a second joint venture, German this time. MBDA began preliminary talks on this issue with the two main German missile companies, LFK (70% owned by EADS) and BGT (20% owned by EADS and 80% by the German DIEHL).