Information AboutThomson-csf |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT THOMSON-CSF | |
| defunct companies of france | |
| thomson sa | |
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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 Privitisation 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. |
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