Thales, EADS have no merger plans: EADS chief

PARIS (AFP) - The French-British defence electronics group Thales and the European aerospace group EADS do not have a plan to merge, EADS joint chairman Philippe Camus said.
A spokeswoman for the European Aeronautic Defence and Space company said that Camus had told a meeting of analysts and financiers that "a merger of EADS and Thales is not on the agenda".
Thales declined to comment.
Press reports have speculated for several days that the two groups might merge to create a European giant equivalent to the US behemoth Boeing.
The matter was expected to be raised during talks in London on Thursday between French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
After Camus spoke, the price of shares in Thales fell by 2.72 percent to 32.18 euros but EADS stock rose by 1.57 percent to 23.98 euros.

11/18/2004 - 12:33 GMT - AFP