RTX threatens legal action against Italy over Microtecnica sale

ROME — The American defense giant RTX is threatening to take the Italian government to court for blocking the sale of an aerospace unit in Italy to the French firm Safran.

RTX, formerly known as Raytheon Technologies , had planned to sell Microtecnica to Safran. Microtecnica is an Italian company that makes components for the Eurofighter jet built by Italy, Germany, the U.K. and Spain.

Microtecnica is currently owned by RTX subsidiary Collins Aerospace, and is part of Collins’ flight controls business, which was to be sold to Safran in a $1.8 billion deal announced last July.

But in November, the Italian government blocked the planned sale of Microtecnica. Sources in Italy with knowledge of the decision said the current geopolitical environment makes it an unsuitable time for such deals, as they could jeopardize the Italian military’s access to crucial components.

To block the sale, Italy invoked its so-called Golden Power legislation, which allows the government to halt purchases of strategic local firms by overseas buyers.

At the time, Safran CEO Olivier Andries told the Financial Times he opposed the veto. “They assume the worst about our intentions that we will not fairly support or prioritise the Eurofighter,” the news outlet quoted him as saying.

Now, RTX and Safran are preparing to challenge the veto in court, said Jeff Shockey, the head of RTX’s global government relations.

“We and Safran will be filing appeals, which is necessary to preserve the global transaction,” he said in a statement. “We acknowledge the Italian government’s decision. However, we remain convinced the transaction would be good for Microtecnica, its customers, its employees, and all the other stakeholders involved.

“For this reason, we continue to be committed to the transaction and look forward to finding a solution to address any concerns that the Italian government may have.”

But if the involved parties can strike a deal to allay the government’s concerns outside a courtroom, RTX is prepared to do so, he said. “We look forward to the opportunity to resolve the matter through a constructive dialogue with the Italian Government outside of the appeal process.”

Italian union leaders, who learned of the planned appeal by Microtecnica management in Turin, Italy when they met Thursday, are backing the legal challenge.

“What were motives for this unexpected decision by the Italian government?” said Edi Lezzi, the Turin head of the FIOM union, which represents staff among the 600-plus Microtecnica employees in northern Italy.

“Who is taking care of this? The employees are stuck in the middle,” Lezzi added. “Microtecnica is healthy and profitable, and it is not professional if Defence Minister [Guido] Crosetto and Prime Minister [Giorgia Meloni] do not explain this choice, which could have a significant economic impact on the regions of Lombardy and Piedmont.”

Announcing its plan to purchase Collins Aerospace’s actuation and flight control activities last July, Safran said it would be acquiring eight facilities in France, the U.K. and Italy, as well as in Asia, employing about 3,700. These locations were expected to see sales of approximately $1.5 billion in 2024.

Introduced in 2012, Italy’s Golden Power rule is normally used to block Chinese takeovers of strategic firms . In 2021, Italian police raided an Italian drone maker which had allegedly been sold to China without alerting the Italian government, thus evading Golden Power sanctions.

RTX is the second largest company in the world based on defense-related revenue, according to Defense News’ Top 100 list . Safran ranked 28th on the list.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——美国国防巨头RTX威胁要将意大利政府告上法庭，因为意大利政府阻止了该公司将其在意大利的一家航空航天部门出售给法国赛峰集团。

RTX（前身为雷神技术公司）曾计划将Microtecnica出售给赛峰集团。Microtecnica是一家意大利公司，为意大利、德国、英国和西班牙联合生产的欧洲战斗机生产零部件。

Microtecnica 目前由 RTX 子公司 Collins Aerospace 所有，是 Collins 飞行控制业务的一部分，该业务原计划于去年 7 月以 18 亿美元的价格出售给 Safran。

但去年11月，意大利政府叫停了Microtecnica的出售计划。知情人士透露，当前的地缘政治环境并不适合进行此类交易，因为这可能会危及意大利军方获取关键零部件的渠道。

为了阻止这笔交易，意大利援引了所谓的“黄金权力”立法，该立法允许政府阻止海外买家收购当地战略性企业。

当时，赛峰集团首席执行官奥利维尔·安德里斯告诉《金融时报》，他反对这项否决权。该新闻媒体援引他的话说：“他们对我们的意图做出了最坏的假设，认为我们不会公平地支持或优先考虑欧洲战斗机项目。”

RTX全球政府关系负责人杰夫·肖基表示，RTX和赛峰集团现在正准备在法庭上挑战这一否决权。

他在一份声明中表示：“我们和赛峰集团将提起上诉，这对于维护这项全球交易至关重要。我们尊重意大利政府的决定。然而，我们仍然坚信，这项交易对Microtecnica公司、其客户、员工以及所有其他相关利益方都有利。”

“因此，我们将继续致力于完成这笔交易，并期待找到解决方案，以消除意大利政府可能存在的任何疑虑。”

但他表示，如果相关各方能在法庭外达成协议，消除政府的疑虑，RTX 也愿意这样做。“我们期待有机会通过与意大利政府在诉讼程序之外进行建设性对话来解决问题。”

意大利工会领导人周四在都灵开会时得知了Microtecnica管理层计划上诉的消息，他们表示支持这一法律挑战。

“意大利政府做出这一出人意料的决定是出于什么动机？”意大利北部 Microtecnica 公司 600 多名员工的 FIOM 工会都灵负责人 Edi Lezzi 问道。

“谁来负责这件事？员工们夹在中间左右为难，”莱齐补充道。“Microtecnica公司运营良好且盈利，如果国防部长克罗塞托和总理梅洛尼不解释这一决定，那就太不专业了。这一决定可能会对伦巴第和皮埃蒙特地区造成重大的经济影响。”

赛峰集团去年7月宣布计划收购柯林斯宇航公司的作动器和飞行控制业务，称将收购位于法国、英国、意大利以及亚洲的八家工厂，这些工厂雇佣了约3700名员工。预计这些工厂在2024年的销售额将达到约15亿美元。

意大利于2012年推出的“黄金权力”规则通常用于阻止中国企业收购战略性公司。2021年，意大利警方突击搜查了一家意大利无人机制造商，据称该公司在未通知意大利政府的情况下被出售给了中国，从而规避了“黄金权力”制裁。

根据《防务新闻》发布的全球百强企业榜单，RTX是全球国防相关收入第二大的公司，而赛峰集团则位列第28位。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。