PARIS – Thales will hold a board meeting on Monday to choose a successor to Chairman Jean-Bernard Levy, who is leaving the defense electronics company to take the top job at utility giant Electricité de France (EDF), a company executive said.
A government Cabinet meeting is expected to appoint Levy as EDF chairman on Wednesday, following Friday's annual shareholders meeting that approved his appointment to the board of directors, the executive said.
Dassault Aviation, the leading private shareholder with 25 percent of Thales stock, and the government with 26 percent, will select the top manager, with three options being considered, business daily Les Echos reported.
One option is appointment of a chairman and chief executive, another is naming a non-executive chairman and a chief executive, and a third possibility is selecting an interim chairman and CEO, the Les Echos report said. An interim appointment would give time to settle on a long-term selection. Separation of chairman and CEO is unlikely, the report said.
"It's very open," the executive said.
The two internal candidates are reported to be chief operating officer Patrice Caine and Pierre-Eric Pommelet, head of defense mission systems, according to Les Echos. The former is seen to be a natural successor as Caine took up his senior position when Levy arrived some two years ago, while the latter is said to be favored by Dassault, as Pommelet works closely on the Rafale fighter, according to Les Echos.
Thales supplies the active electronically scanned array radar and other key systems on the Rafale. Dassault is prime contractor on the fighter.
There are also external candidates, reported to have included MBDA's Antoine Bouvier and Airbus group's Marwan Lahoud.
Thales declined comment. ■
Email: ptran@defensenews.com.
