AIRBUS SAS, the world's biggest plane maker, has chosen German company Diehl Stiftung & Co KG and France's Thales SA as exclusive bidders to jointly buy a plant in Laupheim, Germany, that makes cabin interiors.
Teams on both sides will now begin negotiations on remaining details and pursue due diligence to achieve a final agreement as soon as possible, Airbus and parent European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co said last Saturday in an e-mailed statement. No purchase price was disclosed.
Thales and Diehl already have a joint venture, Diehl Aerospace, that supplies aviation systems. That venture is 51 percent held by Diehl and 49 percent by Thales, and if the Laupheim bid is completed, the two companies' ownership stakes in the factory will be in the same proportion, said Diehl spokesman Herbert Wust in a phone interview with Bloomberg News.
"Through the acquisition of the Laupheim site, Diehl and Thales intend to further expand their cabin activities, thus becoming leading global suppliers in the field of aircraft cabins," the companies said in a joint statement.
The purchase agreement will include cabin-work packages for Laupheim in Airbus's A350 aircraft, which is currently being developed. The long-range, medium-sized plane is set for first deliveries in 2013, four years after Boeing Co expects to bring out its 787 Dreamliner.
Diehl said it's the world leader in cabin mood lighting and electrical door and monitoring activities. Thales has a 45-percent global share of the in-flight entertainment systems business, the companies said.
Airbus had originally aimed to sell three additional plants in Germany and two in France, as part of a program to save 2.1 billion euros (US$3.3 billion) annually by 2010.