Airbus, Safran, and Tikehau Ace Capital have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to acquire Eramet-subsidiary Aubert & Duval.
As agreed, the three partners will set up an equally owned joint holding company to acquire a 100% stake in Aubert & Duval.
Headquartered in France, Aubert & Duval focuses on supplying critical parts and materials for aerospace, defence, and nuclear industries. It produces high-performance steels, superalloys, titanium, and aluminium, among others.
The company has an annual revenue of approximately $567.8m (€500m).
According to the terms of the transaction, the business has an enterprise value of €95m.
The acquisition will enable Airbus and Safran to secure the strategic material supplies for current, and future, civil and military aircraft and engine programmes.
Safran CEO Olivier Andriès said: “The planned acquisition will ensure national sovereignty for our most strategic programmes for disruptive civil and military aircraft engines.
“Given its industrial expertise in metallurgy, Safran will lead the operational management of the company. The transformation programme will reinforce customer confidence and create a national champion, with a strong French industrial base, capable of serving global markets.”
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said: “Aubert & Duval, with its critical knowledge and expertise dating back more than a century, is a strategic supplier to Airbus, and the entire aerospace and defence industry.
“Our sector, which has started to emerge from the Covid crisis, needs a solid partner to ramp up production while preparing next-generation technologies in aerospace.”
The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, subject to all necessary regulatory approvals, as well as approval from the relevant employee representative bodies.
Last year, Safran announced that it had been selected to supply landing gear systems for the Bell Textron V-280 Valor next-generation tilt-rotor vertical lift helicopter.
