Thomson-CSF

Thomson-CSF was a major electronics and defense contractor. In December 2000 it was renamed Thales Group.

History

In 1879 Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston formed the Thomson-Houston Electric Company in the United States.

On April 15 1892 Thomson-Houston and the Edison General Electric Company merged to form General Electric (GE). Also in 1892 the company formed a French subsidiary, Thomson Houston International.

In 1893 Compagnie Francaise Thomson-Houston (CFTH) was set up as a partner to GE. It is from this company that the modern Thomson companies would evolve.

In 1966 CFTH merged with Hotchkiss-Brandt to form Thomson-Houston-Hotchkiss-Brandt (soon renamed Thomson-Brandt). In 1968 the electronics business of Thomson-Brandt merged with Compagnie Générale de Télégraphie Sans Fil (CSF) to form Thomson-CSF. Thomson Brandt maintained a significant shareholding in this company (approximately 40%).

In 1982 both Thomson-Brandt and Thomson-CSF were nationalized by François Mitterrand. Thomson-Brandt was renamed Thomson SA (Société Anonyme) and merged with Thomson-CSF.

From 1983 to 1987 a major reorganisation of Thomson-CSF was undertaken, with divestitures to refocus the group on its core activities (electronics and defence). Thomson-CSF Téléphone and the medical division were sold to Alcatel and GE respectively. The semiconductor businesses of Thomson CSF was merged with Finmeccanica. Thomson acquired General Electric's RCA and GE consumer electronics business in 1987.

In 1988 Thomson Consumer Electronics was formed, renamed Thomson Multimedia in 1995. The French government split the consumer electronics and defence businesses prior to privatisation in 1999, those companies being Thomson Multimedia and Thomson-CSF.

Schabir Shaik, a South African businessman from Durban, was found guilty in May 2005 in a High Court trial of paying the then South African deputy president Jacob Zuma Rand 1.2 million (US$185,000) to further their relationship and for soliciting a bribe from the Thomson-CSF. This bribe was related to the awarding of a large armaments contract to the company.

These companies are today Thomson SA and Thales Group

Thomson-CSF independence

Following the privitisation of the Thomson Group Thomson-CSF explored the possibility of merging with Marconi Electronic Systems, however British Aerospace was successful in that aim, forming BAE Systems.

In 2000 Thomson-CSF went through a series of transactions, including with Marconi plc. The major acquisition at this time was the £1.3 billion purchase of the British defence electronics firm, Racal. This made Thomson-CSF the second largest participant in the UK defence industry after BAE. Racal was renamed Thomson-CSF Racal plc.

On December 6 2000 the group was renamed Thales.