PARIS (Reuters) - Aerospace and defence group Thales (PA:TCFP) on Monday forecast the revenues of acquisition target Gemalto (AS:GTO) would grow 5 percent annually and said it would hold on to all the chipmaker's assets.
"Our intention is to keep all of the assets in Gemalto's portfolio," CEO Patrice Caine said in a call with analysts, suggesting that SIM card operations remained core alongside Gemalto's growing focus on cybersecurity.
Thales shares surged 8.2 percent to 93.45 euros in early trading, while Amsterdam-listed Gemalto's shareprice was 5.47 percent high at 49.38 euros, below Thales' 51 euro per share basic offer.
Gemalto's board accepted Thales' bid worth 4.8 billion euros (£4.24 billion) days after rejecting a 4.3 billion euro offer from tech company Atos (PA:ATOS).