The French group Safran are interested in buying the aerospace activities of Avio. “There is a strong complementarity between our businesses and theirs and it could absolutely be an interesting opportunity,” said the chief executive of Safran, Jean-Paul Hertemanduring a conference call. However, the manager specified that the group has not "yet" started exploratory discussions. Safran just released its 2012 results, which recorded 24% operating profit growth.
Last December 21, the American General Electric reached an agreement for the acquisition of the aeronautical division of Avio for 3,3 billion euros, acquiring both the stake of Cinven and its shareholders, equal to approximately 81%, and the stake of Finmeccanica, equal to approximately 14%. Safran was also in the running at the time, but said she was interested in all of the company's business, not just aerospace, according to a source.
At the moment the remains out of the game Italian Strategic Fund (FSI), which in the past had expressed interest in Avio, also reaching an agreement with Finmeccanica linked to the hypothesis of a stock exchange listing of the company.
Avio had been acquired by the English private equity fund Cinven in 2006, with an operation that valued the company at 2,6 billion euros.
