Thales should not pay too much for Airbus PMR business
According to Sash Tusa, analyst at investment research company Edison; “Perhaps the biggest surprise is the exit from PMR".
Tusa continued in Defencenews; “This had been seen as a core business, and was one of Airbus’ strongest examples of parapublic products.”
There are two types of potential buyers for PMR: Companies such as electronics firm Thales, and private equity firms, the consultant said. French police and the gendarme paramilitary force use the PMR Tetra system for their respective Acropole and Rubis networks, while the German Army relies on it for its Bosnet network, the consultant said. The PMR system is secure and highly reliable, suitable for use by the French GIGN élite police unit, the consultant said.
PMR fills a capability in the middle, between the low-cost but relatively unreliable GSM technology, and the high-cost, fourth-generation software-defined radio for military forces, the consultant said. Thales holds a contract for the Contact program for fourth-generation military radio.
François Lureau, head of EuroFLconsult and former procurement chief, said PMR is “an important business,” and would interest Thales. There would be some duplication, but Thales should not pay too much, he said.
Thales, however, will not be interested in Airbus’ sale of its 49 percent stake in Atlas Elektronik, a specialist in submarine technology, with 51 percent held by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), he said.
