• Forum
• SITREP
• Military
• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security

• Space

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Public Eye

Thales acquires sat-nav firms magellan Corp.

02 August 2001

Magellan Corporation and Navigation Solutions are now part of the Thales group, following approval by U.S. authorities. The acquisition was originally announced by Thales and Orbital Sciences on May 23.

With this acquisition, Thales bolsters its position in the GPS (Global Positioning System) equipment and services market, where it already enjoyed European leadership through subsidiary Thales Navigation S.A. Satellite navigation systems such as GPS constitute one of the group’s strategic development objectives, due to the high growth potential of these markets and broad-based application to other business segments within Thales.

Thales Navigation Inc. (formerly Magellan Inc.) and Thales Navigation S.A., along with their subsidiaries, have been combined to form a new operational entity, Thales Navigation, headquarted in Santa Clara, California. Thales Navigation is the world’s third leading company in this market, with nearly 600 employees and projected revenues of 150 million euros for 2001.

Thales Navigation has the competitive advantages needed to consolidated its leadership position, including:

* Products and services that span the three main segments in this market: leisure, professional and automotive applications (the latter through Nav Sol, a joint subsidiary with Hertz).
* International brand recognition built by Magellan, Ashtech, DSNP and MLR.
* The complementary geographic coverage of the brands’ distribution and service networks.

Right from the outset, Thales Navigation will be deploying a development strategy designed to expand its range of products and services, while taking an active role in the development of new GPS and GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) applications. This acquisition reinforces the position of Thales as an active member of Galileo, the future European system of satellite navigation.

"On both sides of the Atlantic, we share the same commitment to delivering quality, innovation and service to our customers," said Henry Gaillard, Managing Director of Thales Navigation. "Our highly motivated, experienced and professional teams will drive our sustainable growth and profitability."

Press contact :
Matt Pothecary
Tel : + 33 (0) 1 53 77 86 26