Further to their board meetings held respectively on 14 and 15 December 2011, Nexter and Thales announced their entering into discussions to bring together their ammunition businesses, with the aim of strengthening Nexter Group's position within the European defense industry.

The project would bring together under Nexter Group the ammunition affiliates of both companies, Nexter Munitions and TDA Armements.

In conjunction, Thales would take up a minority stake in the capital of Nexter Systems and a technological and commercial cooperation agreement would be implemented between the two groups.

This project is a step ahead in the consolidation of the defense industry in Europe, benefiting both competitiveness and employment.

It aims at reinforcing the position of Nexter as a leading player in the ammunition business. The new entity would leverage on its complementary production facilities, thereby offering its customers a comprehensive product range, while increasing its competitiveness and capturing new export business opportunities.

While preserving the independence of Nexter Systems, Thales's participation in its capital would make it easier to develop cooperation between the two companies, especially in the technological and commercial fields, and to leverage on their respective forces in these two fields so as to foster their development, in particular on international markets.

The two groups will proceed with their discussions with a view to reaching a agreement proposal, which would then be presented to their respective boards of directors and employees' representative bodies.