Meeting in Rome earlier this week, Finmeccanica's Board of Directors decided to initiate the merger of Elsag Datamat and SELEX Communications.

The transaction is in line with the company's plan, launched in 2010, to upgrade its industrial assets in the Defense and Security Electronics sector, and is aimed at creating a centre of expertise at Group level in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Security, Automation and Telecommunications sectors, enabling Finmeccanica to fulfill the increasing demand for complete and integrated ICT solutions and secure network management services, and bringing under one roof all the Finmeccanica companies working in this sector.

"The new structure of the Defense and Security Electronics segment organizes Finmeccanica's offer into three centers of expertise," said Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, Chairman and CEO of Finmeccanica. "The resulting organization, with outstanding capabilities in the fields of Information Technology, Telecommunication, Security and Automation, will work with the SELEX Sistemi Integrati systems centre, handling large defense and homeland security and Surface Radar systems, and with SELEX Galileo, a centre of expertise in avionics and electro-optical imaging. This new entity will enable the operating companies to better focus on their missions and successfully meet the demands of our clients for "turnkey" solutions, while ensuring cost optimization".