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Since May 31, 2008, the final negotiations on Laupheim had been conducted exclusively with Diehl/Thales. Transfer of ownership is planned for this autumn, as soon as the remaining conditions have been fulfilled.

Diehl and Thales welcome the agreement reached on an overall package attractive to all parties involved, thus offering new and promising prospects for the Laupheim site.

The Laupheim site will be integrated as an independent joint venture company (Diehl 51%, Thales 49%) into the Diehl Group's Aerosystems Corporate Division, which also includes the Diehl/Thales joint venture Diehl Aerospace (with the same ownership structure).

Diehl Aerospace holds a leading position in cabin mood lighting, emergency lighting, door control and monitoring and Thales is a leader in In-Flight Entertainment systems (45% market share), in Satcomms and connectivity solutions. This expertise combined with Laupheim's current know-how in cabin systems will provide an integrated and competitive cabin systems offer. Thus, Laupheim will have the best prerequisites for becoming an important partner for the international aviation industry in the field of aircraft cabins, featuring integrated system capabilities.

With 1,100 employees, Laupheim is the Airbus site for cabin systems including interior linings, cabin crew rest compartments, air ducts, overhead baggage bins with recognized capabilities in design and program management.

Diehl Stiftung & Co. KG is one of the largest German family-owned corporations with an international orientation.

11,500 employees in more than forty independent companies, making up the four Divisions Metall, Controls, Defence and Aerosystems, are generating revenues of € 2.3 billion. Since its foundation over a hundred years ago, the company has been an entirely family-run. Diehl Aerosystems concentrates all aerospace activities of Diehl for the equipment of commercial and military aircraft, from cockpit to cabin systems.

About Thales

Thales is a leading international electronics and systems group, addressing defence, aerospace and security markets worldwide. Thales' leading-edge technology is supported by 22,000 R&D engineers who offer a capability unmatched in Europe to develop and deploy field-proven, mission-critical information systems. To this end, the group's civil and military businesses develop in parallel and share a common base of technologies to serve a single objective: the security of people, property and nations. The group builds its growth on its unique multi-domestic strategy based on trusted partnerships with national customers and market players, while leveraging its global expertise to support local technology and industrial development.

Thales employs 68,000 people in 50 countries with 2007 revenues of €12.3 billion.