Brussels, 04/11/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has authorised the creation of a joint venture by Société nationale des poudres et explosifs (SNPE) and the European aerospace and defence firm MBDA, consolidating their respective activities in solid rocket motors for tactical military devices. SNPE is a French state-owned company which jointly controls, with EADS, the French enterprise Celerg International. MBDA is jointly controlled by UK-based BAE Systems plc, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) and Italy's Finmeccanica, and primarily supplies guided weapons and guided weapons systems. The joint venture will own and control Celerg and the propulsion systems for tactical weapons activities (RORM) of the UK company Royal Ordnance plc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BAE Systems.
The Commission concluded that the proposed operation would not materially affect the choice of purchasers, that is to say the tactical weapons manufacturers and ultimately the Ministries of Defence, because the overlaps between the concerned entities are limited: Celerg and RORM earn the bulk of their turnover in France and the United Kingdom respectively and barely compete with each other on these markets. Moreover, the new venture will face competition from suppliers like Bayern Chemie/Protac, FiatAvio, Nammo/Raufoss and SNECMA, as well as the US suppliers ATK and ARC.