Fincantieri-Naval Group joint venture is now operational

Naviris, a joint venture between Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and French defense contractor Naval Group, is now fully operational following the first board meeting held on January 13, 2020.

The JV is said to pave the way to the consolidation of European naval defense in response to the increasing pressure of worldwide competitors.

With the head office located in Genoa and a subsidiary in Ollioules, the Naviris team will focus on bi-national and export projects. Claude Centofanti, Chief Executive Officer and Enrico Bonetti, Chief Operational Officer, will run the joint venture. Giuseppe Bono has been appointed Chairman and Hervé Guillou Member of the Board.

Through Naviris, Fincantieri and Naval Group are pooling their strengths to develop a new strategic capability. As explained, Naviris’ objective is to create value through common R&D projects, worldwide proposals, prime contractorship and design authority and procurement optimization.

Naviris foresees export and common French-Italian opportunities, such as the first studies for the mid-life upgrade of the French and Italian Horizon-class destroyers, as well as European projects, such as the development of the European patrol corvette light frigates.

“We are grateful to have received the unconditional support of our governments for the creation of a new European leader for the strategic sector of naval defense,” Giuseppe Bono and Hervé Guillou, the two CEOs of Fincantieri and Naval Group, commented.

“Together, we will accelerate our technological advance and maintain our key differentiators by combining our R&D capabilities, renovating the products for the benefit of our customers. Naviris opens the way to a real construction of European naval defense.”

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Italian, French shipbuilding majors sign joint venture agreement