DCNS (France), West Europe

Activities
The DCNS group is Europe's leading player on the world market for naval defence systems. To meet customer demands for more comprehensive and integrated systems, DCNS acts as prime contractor for naval shipbuilding, integration and support by combining its own development, marketing and production capabilities with those of selected partners. To manage the complexity of such projects, DCNS draws on in-house expertise in naval architecture, systems engineering, ship assembly and integration and equipment design and production as well as through-life support. DCNS's main customer is the French Navy. However, international sales account for 26 per cent of total revenue. In 2003, DCNS changed its legal status from government administration to that of a stand-alone company, or more specifically a state-owned commercial enterprise under private law. On 29 March 2007, the Convergence with Thales marked the completion of the first round of change. This simplification of the sector's organisation chart is a crucial step towards the consolidation of Europe's naval defence industry. Regroupings such as this are essential to sustain an independent European industrial fabric able to meet customer expectations and play a key role on the world stage. DCNS has been the new name of the group since this acquisition. The acronym DCN has been replaced by a brand: DCNS. The new brand symbolises the group's new organisation and ambitions following the integration of Thales' naval businesses in France.

Parent/major shareholders
On 29 March 2007, the Convergence project to regroup the French naval activities of DCN and Thales under the DCNS banner came into effect. DCNS acquired TNF (with the exception of its equipment businesses), Armaris and their subsidiaries. The industrial, marketing and sales resources of France's entire naval defence sector now form a single company.Before convergence, the French State was DCNS's only shareholder with a 100 per cent interest. Since Convergence and the regrouping of French naval defence activities under the DCNS banner, the group has acquired a 100 per cent interest in Thales Naval France, Armaris and their subsidiaries while Thales has acquired a 25 per cent interest in DCNS. Consequently, DCNS now has two shareholders: the French State as majority shareholder and Thales as industry shareholder. The French State carries 75 per cent. Thales has 25 per cent of DCNS.Subject to the approval of France's Holdings and Transfers Committee (Commission des Participations et Transferts), Thales has an option to increase its interest to 35 per cent between March 2009 and 2013.

The complete article appears in the following publication:
Publication Title	Jane's World Defence Industry
Publication date	May 17, 2011
Section	West Europe
Publication synopsis	This one-stop source on corporate activity in the defence industry assesses the significance, corporate capabilities, organisational structure and current commercial performance of the world's highest-profile defence companies. Company-by-company, you will find information on ownership, key personnel, workforce, recent financial performance, plants and subsidiaries, products and new technologies, and an invaluable summary of their recent major contracts, making it an ideal resource for financial risk analysis, monitoring competitor activity and industry research.
The depth and breadth of information covers	Expert commentaries on corporate activities Corporate executive lists Parent companies and subsidiaries Organisational structure Product lines Current business priorities Facilities Recent contracts
Content Structure	Jane’s World Defence Industry provides an assessment of the significance, corporate capabilities, organisational structure and current commercial performance of what are perceived as the most significant high-profile players in the international market for defence equipment and systems. It is updated every six months as continuing corporate activity and fresh defence-related issues bring other companies to positions of prominence in their respective markets. Inevitably, because of the complexity of many of the major groups in the defence and military aerospace industries, the Contents extend to include many hundreds of subsidiary organisations, many of which trade under names which do not immediately provide an indication of their parentage. Jane’s World Defence Industry aims to provide a readily accessible guide to the hierarchical relationships in an international market that is rapidly coming under the domination of extremely large and complex corporate structures. Scope This publication is divided into regional sections: Africa and the Middle East; East Asia; South West Asia and ASEAN; East and Central Europe; West Europe; North America; and Latin America. A Commentary providing a brief overview of current dominant issues has been provided for each region. Each region is subdivided into separate countries within which key companies are listed in alphabetical order. International companies are listed under the countries in which their head (home) offices are situated. Joint ventures are similarly listed in the entries of each of the partner companies. Issue numbers and publication dates at the foot of each page show how recently individual entries have been updated. However, the most up-to-date information is available via the Jane’s World Defence Industry microsite (jwdi.janes.com), which is continually updated between the printed editions. Format As far as possible a standard format has been adopted which provides, in the first instance, a description of the company and its ownership, directors or vice-presidents, the general nature of its business and details of its workforce and recent financial performance. This introductory section also includes a brief assessment of the factors which give the organisation its current listing in what may be described as the industry’s ‘upper echelons’. Thereafter each entry details the various wholly-owned and partly-owned plants and subsidiaries for each company, outlines their principal activities and, wherever possible, their significance to their regional economies and provides a summary of their recent major contracts. Wherever applicable, entries are rounded out with listings of associated companies (sister companies within groups) which have no significant defence interests. Assessment There is no single measure by which we have been able to assess what endows a company with a ‘high-profile’ presence in the defence markets. Some of the largest suppliers to the defence community (for example, oil companies) have a low profile. Some relatively small companies may have enjoyed a succession of contract successes and/or technological breakthroughs that make them a centre of interest on the part of potential users and/or the various commercial and industrial sectors that have roles in their support. Therefore we have had to develop an approach wherein the hard facts of corporate life (for example, contract successes, merger and acquisitions activity, plant closures) are considered in context with current high-profile defence issues (rapid deployment and regional threats), specific technology issues (ballistic missile defence) and continuing trends in such high-profile areas as privatisation, contractorisation and environmental concern. Looking Ahead As each issue of Jane’s World Defence Industry is produced, fresh waves of corporate, technological and procurement activity and changes in national political environments will have already begun to show through. The consistent element of the publication is its value as a source of objective, in depth information, not only on the companies which hold the industry’s high ground, but also on those who seek to compete or collaborate with them in domestic and international markets. Sections covered: AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST ANALYSIS EAST AND CENTRAL EUROPE EAST ASIA LATIN AMERICA NORTH AMERICA SOUTH WEST ASIA WEST EUROPE

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