Following a recommendation by the Foreign Investment Review Board, Australian Treasurer Peter Costello has approved the application by Thales Australia Holdings to acquire the remaining 50 percent of the shares in ADI Group Holdings Pty Ltd. from Transfield Holdings. Thales and Transfield bought ADI in a joint venture from the Commonwealth in 1999.

Following the imminent completion of the financial transaction, ADI will join the other fully owned Thales subsidiaries, Thales Underwater Systems, Air Traffic Management, Training and Simulation under the single entity of Thales Australia. This move is seen as leveraging Thales Australia as a globally competitive business by integrating skills, knowledge and talent locally and internationally.

“The approval shows the Australian Government’s confidence in Thales Australia’s ability to protect sensitive technologies including those sourced from the US,” said Norman Gray, Thales Australia managing director. Denis Ranque, chairman and CEO of the Thales Group, added, “The success of the Thales 100 percent owned Australian businesses demonstrates the benefits of the company’s ‘multi-domestic’ strategy, which means the investment of Thales global technology and financial resources into local markets.”