ThyssenKrupp joins forces with EADS

ThyssenKrupp Technologies, a unit of German heavy industry giant ThyssenKrupp, said Monday it was teaming up with the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) to bid jointly for Atlas Elektronik, the German marine subsidiary of British group BAE Systems. ThyssenKrupp Technologies and EADS had signed a letter of intent to make a joint offer for Atlas Elektronik, the two companies said in a joint statement. Under the terms of the cooperation, ThyssenKrupp would hold a 60 percent stake in Atlas and EADS the other 40 percent. "Our subsidiary ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems concentrates the core competence of the German naval shipbuilding in the fields of conventional submarines and surface vessels", said the head of ThyssenKrupp Technologies Olaf Berlien. For its part, EADS would contribute its "core competence as system partner of the shipbuilding industry, said the head of EADS Defense and Security Systems, Stefan Zoller. If the consortium were successful in buying Atlas Elektronik, the latter would continue to be based in Bremen, in northern Germany. With 1,750 employees, Atlas Elektronik is a market leader in the development of integrated sonar systems for submarines and is already a supplier of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.