Commission clears creation of defence joint venture by BAES, JAIEC, and Leonardo

European Commission - Press release Commission clears creation of defence joint venture by BAES, JAIEC, and Leonardo Brussels, 2 June 2025 The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed creation of a joint venture (‘JV') between BAE Systems (Holdings) Limited (‘BAES'), Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co. Ltd. (‘JAIEC'), and Leonardo S.p.A. (‘Leonardo'). This JV will be the prime contractor and lead systems integrator for the Global Combat Air Programme. The Commission's investigation The transaction relates primarily to multi-role combat aircraft. Multi-role combat aircraft are military fighters which are designed for different types of missions. According to the parties, the strategic and economic rationale for the transaction is to develop a sixth-generation combat aircraft. The JV will be the prime contractor and lead systems integrator for the aircraft. The aircraft is intended for use by the governments of Italy, the UK and Japan, with the potential for sales to other jurisdictions/government buyers in the future. The Commission investigated the impact of the transaction primarily on the Italian and international export markets for multi-role combat aircraft. Based on its market investigation, the Commission found that the notified transaction would not raise competition concerns given the absence of new horizontal overlaps between the companies' activities in the relevant, i.e. Italian, national market for multi-role...