Leonardo S.p.A. Information

Leonardo S.p.A., formerly Leonardo-Finmeccanica and Finmeccanica, is an Italian multinational company specialising in aerospace, defence and security. Headquartered in Rome, the company has 180 sites worldwide. It is the ninth largest defence contractor in the world based on 2016 revenues. The company is partially owned by the Italian government through the Ministry of Economy and Finance, which holds 30.2% of the companys shares and is its largest shareholder.

On 1 January 2016, Leonardo-Finmeccanica became a single industrial company by integrating the activities of its subsidiaries AgustaWestland, Alenia Aermacchi, DRS Technologies, Selex ES, Oto Melara and WASS. The company is organised into five divisions (Helicopters, Aircraft, Aerostructures, Electronics, Cybersecurity) and is also the parent company and corporate centre for the subsidiaries and joint ventures, Telespazio, Thales Alenia Space, MBDA and ATR. Leonardo is listed on the Borsa Italiana and is a constituent of the FTSE MIB and Dow Jones Sustainability Indices.

As of April 2016[update], the company was known by the transitional name of Leonardo-Finmeccanica as part of the restructuring process of the company carried out by CEO Mauro Moretti from the beginning of his mandate in 2014. The company changed its name to Leonardo S.p.A. on 1 January 2017, after the Italian inventor Leonardo da Vinci.

The company was established in 1948 as the mechanical engineering subholding of the state-owned IRI. Finmeccanica has held for years some historic Italian enterprises, as Alfa Romeo (automobiles), Aeritalia (aerospace) and Ansaldo (engineering). From the 1960s to the 1980s Italys defence and aerospace industry was split into state-holding entities: EFIM owned the helicopters manufacturer Agusta, the defence company Oto Melara and the electronic enterprise Officine Galileo, whereas STET (another IRI subsidiary) held Selenia, Elsag and SGS Thomson, all electronic enterprises with specializations in security and defense. In 1989 an internal IRI reorganization process brought STET electronic enterprises to Finmeccanica, and the Aeritalia-Selenia merger constituted its aerospace subsidiary Alenia.

In 1992 EFIM was wound up because of its troubled financial situation; and Agusta, Oto Melara, Officine Galileo and Breda passed to Finmeccanica, which became one of the main Italian industrial groups. Finmeccanica, which was previously fully state owned by IRI, became partly privatized in 1993, when it was listed in the Milan Borsa Italiana stock exchange.

In 1992 Finmeccanicas Agusta became a 32% partner in NHIndustries, the prime contractor for the NH90 helicopter, along with Eurocopter (62.5%) and Fokker (5.5%).

In July 2000 Finmeccanica and the British GKN agreed to merge their respective helicopter subsidiaries (Agusta and GKN-Westland Helicopters) to form AgustaWestland. In December 2001 the missile business of Alenia Marconi Systems (AMS), a joint Finmeccanica/BAE Systems company, was merged with other European missile manufacturers to form MBDA which thus became the worlds second largest missile manufacturer. In July 2003 Finmeccanica and BAE Systems announced their intention to set up three joint venture companies, to be collectively known as Eurosystems. These companies would have pooled the avionics, C4ISTAR and communications businesses of the two companies. In March 2007 BAE Systems sold its 25% share to Finmeccanica for €400 million. In January 2013 the company merged with Finmeccanicas other defence electronics companies, SELEX Elsag and SELEX Sistemi Integrati, to become Selex ES. In May 2008 Finmeccanica announced its intention to purchase the U.S. defense contractor DRS Technologies for nearly $5.2 billion. On 22 October 2008 the sale of DRS Technologies was finalized.

During 2011–2013, Finmeccanica emails were published by WikiLeaks and Finmeccanica was subject to judicial inquiries on several fronts and management changes.

According to Finmeccanica emails published in the Syria Files release by WikiLeaks on 5 July 2012, Finmeccanica increased its sale of mobile communications equipment to Syrian authorities during 2011, delivering 500 of these to the Damascus suburb Muadamia in May 2011, after the Syrian uprising had started, and sending engineers to Damascus in February 2012 to provide training in using the communications equipment in helicopter terminals, while the uprising continued. Finmeccanica stated that the equipment sales were legal, they occurred "before the outbreak of conflict inside Syria", and the equipment "was designed for use by emergency responders" for civilian use only.

On 12 February 2013, the chief executive, Giuseppe Orsi, was arrested on corruption charges. Prosecutors alleged that he paid bribes to ensure the sale of 12 helicopters to the Indian government, when he was head of the groups AgustaWestland unit.

In July 2013, the Letta government appointed former police chief Giovanni De Gennaro as Chairman of Finmeccanica. In December 2013 Finmeccanica sold 39.55% of its share capital in Ansaldo Energia to Fondo Strategico Italiano. The remaining 15% of Finmeccanicas share will be sold by December 31, 2017.

In the first half of 2014, Finmeccanicas new Chief Executive Officer and General Manager Mauro Moretti started a significant process of change for the Group, both in terms of strategic choices and organizational structure. The goal was to create a more cohesive and efficient group in which all processes (research, marketing and sales, engineering, procurement, strategies and governance) are centralized and integrated and can interact each other. This encompasses the 100% owned companies of the core aerospace and defence business (AgustaWestland, Alenia Aermacchi, Oto Melara, Selex ES and WASS) being transformed into seven new Finmeccanica divisions. The current holding company will then become an operating company based on seven major business areas, maintaining its parent company and corporate centre function for the Group companies excluded from the model (DRS Technologies, Telespazio, Thales Alenia Space, MBDA and ATR).

At the end of 2014, Finmeccanica transferred its stake in BredaMenarinibus to the newco Industria Italiana Autobus (20% Finmeccanica and 80% King Long), thereby taking a further step in the Groups portfolio rationalization process.

In 2015 Hitachi signed a binding agreement with Finmeccanica for Hitachis acquisition of the AnsaldoBreda business, excluding some revamping activities and residual contracts, and of the entire Finmeccanica stake in the share capital of Ansaldo STS, approximately 40% of the total capital.

FATA, another subsidiary of the Finmeccanica Group since 2004 that was not part of the core business, was sold in 2015 to the Gruppo Danieli, dealing in the production of steel plants.

On 1 January 2016, Finmeccanica become a single integrated industrial entity that have absorbed the activities of AgustaWestland, Alenia Aermacchi, Selex ES, OTO Melara and WASS.

A company rebranding operation led by Mauro Moretti began in March 2016, with a proposal to change the company name. From 1 January 2017 Finmeccanica officially became Leonardo, a name inspired by the Italian savant Leonardo da Vinci. On 18 March 2017 the Italian Treasury proposed that the veteran banker Alessandro Profumo replace Mauro Moretti as CEO of Leonardo, and on 16 May the Board appointed Alessandro Profumo to the role.

On 30 January 2018, Leonardo presented the 2018-2022 Industrial Plan with the aim of taking the necessary actions to return to sustainable growth in the five-year period.

The outlook in the reference markets is positive, particularly in international export markets, allowing Leonardo to concentrate on existing opportunities for its core businesses.

After having taken several steps towards building the "One Company" operating model, Leonardo now considers an acceleration necessary to ensure the sustainability of the business in the medium-long term, strengthening the business structure and enhancing the commercial approach.

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