1 March, 2001

Thomson-CSF Systems Canada announced today that it has been renamed Thales Systems Canada. The new name results from the rebranding of the parent company Thomson-CSF, an international defence and commercial electronics group, with a new corporate identity and a new name: THALES (pron. ta’les).

The move follows a wide-ranging strategic review, which revealed that Thomson-CSF’s former corporate identity no longer adequately reflected the reality of the group today.

THALES today is a global business with its headquarters in Paris. It has operations in nearly 30 countries and over 65,000 employees worldwide– half of them based outside France. 2000 was a year of fundamental structural change for THALES, with the acquisition of Racal in the UK and the realignment of the group around three clearly-defined businesses corresponding to the group's main markets: aerospace, defence, and information technology and services.This restructuring has been accompanied by radical changes in the group’s culture and management as acquisitions have been integrated in the UK, the Netherlands, South Africa and Korea.

Denis Ranque, chairman of THALES, comments:“We have changed significantly since the days when we were known simply as a French defence company.Today, we are a global dual-technology group with substantial businesses in the aerospace, defence and IT & Services markets. By assuming a new name and identity at this important point in our history, we are clearly signaling the scale of that change.”

THALES has six companies in Canada.Thales Systems Canada is a systems engineering and integration company, and a prime contractor located in Ottawa.It supplies mission systems for ships and aircraft; turnkey communications systems; and command and control software to the defence, civil, and commercial markets.Exports represent 50% of annual sales.The company is supplying its systems and software technology to the Canadian government and customers in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Caribbean, and Latin America. It has the THALES world product mandate for Global Maritime Distress and Safety Systems (GMDSS) used for emergency communications.

Why THALES? Thales of Miletus was a sixth-century B.C. Greek mathematician and philosopher; one of the most original and fertile thinkers of antiquity. He was recognized in his own lifetime as one of the first to propose a rational, rather than mythological, explanation of the universe. The new name establishes an identity rooted in science, innovation and a global culture. The new Internet address is www.thalesgroup.com.

For more information please contact us at:

Telephone: (613) 723-7000,inquiries@ca.thalesgroup.com
Thales Systems Canada, 49 Auriga Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K2E 8A1