Thales announces the creation of Thales Communications & Security, a company combining the joint skills of Thales Communications and Thales Security Solutions & Services in the fields of defence, security and ground transportation.

This merger reflects the growing convergence of information management issues in these areas. By combining these globally recognised skills, this company offers Thales major benefits for catering even more efficiently to the needs of its customers.

In a world that is increasingly open, more complex and at the same time more vulnerable to new threats, it is vital to be able to make the right decisions in timely fashion in order to protect the public, sensitive sites and highly critical data. To this end, the requirements of the armed forces and the security services are converging on improving the way in which information and the associated technologies are managed.

At the same time, the control and command solutions and the means for supervision dedicated to defence and security systems are increasingly drawing on common or complementary technologies.

In order to better take account of this environment, Thales is merging the activities of two subsidiaries: Thales Communications - leader in secure information and communication products and systems for the armed forces and security services; and Thales Security Solutions & Services - leader in security systems for the general public, for critical infrastructures and for travellers.

"In concrete terms, Thales’ mission is to ‘simplify complexity' in order to provide decision-makers with relevant, clear and immediate information about their environment," explains Pascale Sourisse, CEO of Thales Communications & Security. "The creation of Thales Communications & Security makes us even more efficient by combining the skills of two highly complementary companies. It will also allow us to stimulate innovation and offer our customers a wider range of technologies. In all, this venture encompasses almost 7000 people spread over 9 R&D and industrial sites, all set to serve our customers in France and abroad."

The creation of Thales Communications & Security makes it possible to extend and accelerate the cooperation that was already in place between the teams of Thales Communications and Thales Security Solutions & Services. This cooperation has already borne fruit on several projects, both in France (e.g., the new Ministry of Defence at Balard, Paris) and for the export market (e.g., the security system for Mexico City). The new entity offers multiple benefits for its military and civil customers:

• high-performance and competitive technical and technological solutions to meet evolving market needs;

• diversified, high-value-added skills, with teams that are experts in complex, cross-functional project management;

• a reinforced industrial platform and greatly increased R&D/innovation capacity.

Thales Communications & Security therefore has all it takes to win new market share both in France and internationally, thanks to strengthened teams, a broader customer base and improved competitiveness.

With Thales Communications & Security, Thales consolidates its position as European number one in secure information and communication systems on the global markets for defence, security and ground transportation.

Thales Communications & Security, the head office of which is sited at Colombes (France), is a company with a headcount of approximately 7000, and whose employees are spread over 9 sites. Thales Communications & Security concentrates over half of the Group’s business (around ˆ3 billion) on C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Information) systems for defence and security.

Thales
04.07.2011