Sagem, Snecma Merged Company To Be Called Safran"

PARIS -(Dow Jones)- French jet engine and aerospace equipment company Snecma SA (532874.FR) and its soon-to-be bride mobile phone and defense electronic company Sagem SA (7327.FR) will change their corporate identity to Safran once their merger is complete, the two companies said Friday.

Earlier Friday, the boards of Snecma and Sagem approved the name change, which will now go to a vote at a special shareholders' meeting.

Safran is the French word for a boat's rudder blade, hinting at the notions of direction, goal or heading, the companies said in a press release. It is also the French word for saffron, the expensive orange-yellow spice made from the dried stigmas of the saffron flower, crocus sativus.

The name was chosen from among 4,250 submissions, and has been registered in more than 100 countries after legal checks in 32 countries for availability and linguistic validation in 23.

At least one other company operates under the Safran name, however: Safran Software Solutions, a Norwegian unit of Finnish project management company Proha OYJ.

The companies hired Nomen SA, a French company specialized in brand name research, to find the name. Marcel Botton, Nomen's chief executive, told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview that although other companies may have the same trade name, "it's not a problem so long as they don't have the same activity."

Subsidiaries of Sagem and Snecma will retain their existing identities in order to ensure continued marketing support for their product lines.

Botton agreed that the word Safran also hints at France, and said this isn't entirely accidental. "The era when transnational companies were the thing and national identities were frowned upon may have passed," he said. "Companies shouldn't be afraid to show their national identities."

The two-stage cash or shares Sagem-Snecma merger, due to be completed by May 11, will create a company with annual revenue of EUR10.4 billion, of which propulsion-related businesses will contribute nearly one-half. It will be Europe's third-largest aerospace group after European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co NV (5730.FR) and BAE Systems PLC (BA.LN)

- By David Pearson, Dow Jones Newswires; +33140171740, david.pearson@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 18th March 2005