CMS advises Airbus Group on the Finalisation of its joint venture with Safran

CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre and CMS Hasche Sigle, the French and German CMS firms, advised Airbus Group in relation to finalisation of the creation of its 50/50 joint venture with Safran: Airbus Safran Launchers. This ultimate stage, allowing the company to become fully operational, represents the completion of an ambitious strategic initiative begun in 2014.

Airbus Safran Launchers, a specialist in the field of space launch vehicles, will mainly be responsible for design, production and marketing of the Ariane 6 programme.

With a workforce of around 8400 employees in France and Germany, Airbus Safran Launchers is at the head of a large global group comprising 11 subsidiaries which are leaders in their respective fields of activity: APP, Arianespace, Cilas, Eurockot, Eurocryospace, Europropulsion, Nuclétudes, Pyroalliance, Regulus, Sodern and Starsem.

For this transaction, Airbus Group was particularly advised on tax aspects by CMS with Edouard Milhac (partner), Agathe d'Aubigny and Rémy Lefebvre from CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre and Thomas Link (partner) from CMS Hasche Sigle.

Other advisors were:

For Airbus Group

• Clifford Chance for corporate/M&A aspects, commercial contracts, intellectual property, real estate, public law, banking/finance and labour law;
• Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier for tax and corporate/M&A;
• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton on antitrust aspects.

For Safran

• BDGS for corporate/M&A and on antitrust aspects;
• Jones Day for tax, labour law, corporate/M&A, real estate and intellectual property law;
• Fieldfisher for environmental aspects.
• The French State (the State Investments Agency and the Directorate General of Armaments) was also advised by Bredin Prat.

For more information:

• Nicolas Merigeau, NewCap 
  nmerigeau@newcap.fr | +33 1 44 71 94 98
• CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre 
  - Florence Jouffroy, Marketing and Communication Director | +33 1 47 38 40 32 
  - Laetitia Mostowski, Communication Manager | +33 1 47 38 40 74