Monday, March 7, 2011

Finmeccanica Seeks Partnership with Turkish Group

ANKARA - Italian defense giant Finmeccanica, the largest company operating in Turkey's defense and aerospace industries, is seeking a partnership model to join forces with an umbrella group that houses several Turkish top defense manufacturers, a senior official from the Italian company said.
Finmeccanica's strategic objective in the Turkish market is to reach a global agreement with the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation, Paolo Pozzessere, Finmeccanica's commercial director, said March 7.
"We cannot fail to dedicate special attention to this group, which is very similar to our own," Pozzessere said. "Today, we are looking to focus on defense electronics, where we regard Turkish companies, particularly those of the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation, are our main partners."
Pozzessere said that Finmeccanica's main objective is to maintain its current position in the Turkish market and use its potential to increase penetration into countries in the region.
The Turkish Armed Forces Foundation owns majority stakes in the country's top defense companies, including military electronics firm Aselsan, software company Havelsan and rocket manufacturer Roketsan. These three are among Turkey's five biggest defense companies.
Finmeccanica opened a Turkish office here in November. Finmeccanica subsidiaries, including AgustaWestland and Telespazio, already have grabbed Turkish contracts worth billions of dollars in total for attack helicopters and for Turkey's first military satellite. On Nov. 8, the company and Turkey's procurement office signed a nearly 150 million euro (nearly $210 million) contract for the company's urgent production of nine T129 attack helicopters for the Turkish Army.
Turkey already has a separate, multibillion-dollar contract with AgustaWestland for joint manufacture of 51 T129 attack helicopters, a Turkish version of the company's A129.
Finmeccanica S.p.A. is the second-largest industrial group and the largest of the high-tech industrial groups based in Italy. It works in the fields of defense, aerospace, security, transport and energy. It is partially owned by the Italian government, with the Treasury holding about 30 percent of Finmeccanica's shares.
"In the short and medium term, for example, Turkey already has or will soon have requirements for passenger and military air transport and latest-generation trainer aircraft, for which Finmeccanica Group companies offer themselves as partners for national companies," Pozzessere said.

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