The story
Predecessor companies
In July 2003 Finmeccanica and BAE Systems signed a joint venture agreement with the intention of merging their avionics, C4ISR and communications businesses to create three joint venture partnerships under the name Eurosystems. The difficulties of integrating the companies in this way however led to a re-evaluation of the proposal. BAE's 2004 Annual Report states that "recognising the complexity of the earlier proposed... transaction with Finmeccanica we have moved to a simpler model."
This revised agreement was signed on 27 January 2005. Finmeccanica and BAE announced the intention to dissolve their partnership in the Alenia Marconi Systems (AMS) joint venture with AMS' UK and Italian operations to be taken over by the respective partners.
On 3 May 2005 the Eurosystems Transaction was finalised with
the whole of the avionics business of Finmeccanica and the majority of BAE Systems Avionics being brought together to form the new SELEX Sensors and Airborne Systems (SELEX S&AS) joint venture held by shares of 75% and 25% respectively, with the option for Finmeccanica to later purchase the remaining 25%.
the UK operation of AMS (minus air traffic control and communication systems) being brought together with the C4ISR division of BAE Systems (minus communication systems) to form the new Integrated System Technologies division of BAE Systems, named BAE Systems Insyte.
the Italian operations of AMS being brought together with several other AMS companies to form SELEX Sistemi Integrati.
the communications systems portions of AMS and BAE Systems being sold to Selenia Communications, a division of Finmeccanica. Selenia was subsequently renamed SELEX Communications.
BAE Systems sold its 25% share of SELEX S&AS to Finmeccanica for €400 million in March 2007.
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From January 2008, SELEX S&AS Limited and its Italian counterpart Galileo Avionica S.p.A. began to operate under a common brand name, SELEX Galileo. In January 2010, the operating companies’ legal names were aligned to the brand, becoming SELEX Galileo Ltd and SELEX Galileo S.p.A. respectively. SELEX Sensors and Airborne Systems (US) Inc. became SELEX Galileo Inc.
In 2009 SELEX Sistemi Integrati purchased Vega Group PLC, forming in the UK SELEX Systems Integration Ltd and Vega Consulting Services Ltd.
In 2011 SELEX Communications merged with Elsag Datamat to establish SELEX Elsag.
Merger of SELEX companies
On 1 January 2013, SELEX Galileo became Selex ES when it merged with its sister companies SELEX Sistemi Integrati and SELEX Elsag. The combined business had a global workforce of approximately 17,000, and total revenues in excess of €3.5 billion. Alongside its core domestic operations in Italy and the UK, the company has an established industrial and commercial footprint in the United States, Germany, Turkey, Romania, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and India.
Recent news
In 2012 it was reported a previous Selex company had provided TETRA trunked radio network hardware to the Assad regime, and amid sanctions continued to expand the company's contract with the regime during the context of the Syrian Civil War.
In August 2013, Selex ES provided an unarmed surveillance drone to the United Nations to be deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo to monitor movements of armed groups in the region and to protect the civilian population more effectively.
In 2015, they secured a cybersecurity contract with NATO.
In 2016, it secured a contract with Angola that will see equipment, replacement components and any associated services be provided to the nation's upcoming centers for maritime surveillance.
From Wikipedia’s article on Selex ES, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5