THALES has entered into exclusive negotiations with Latour Capital, a private equity firm, with a view to selling its transport ticketing and revenue collection, road tolling and car park management business.
Thales says the divestment plan, which was presented to the Thales Group’s European Works Council on November 16, aims to accelerate the development of the business while creating value for its customers and employees. Employee representative bodies are being consulted on the plan, which is also subject to closing conditions.
The business has 850 employees based mainly in France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Mexico, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand and Egypt, and generated sales of €155m in 2015.
Thales says its railway signalling, communication and supervision systems activities are unaffected by the sale and will continue to be at the core of its business, and account for almost 90% of its Ground Transportation Systems division’s revenues. The Ground Transportation Systems division had sales of €1.5bn in 2015, representing 11% of Thales’ total turnover.