PARIS, April 13 (Reuters) - The head of Dassault Aviation AVMD.PA , the biggest shareholder in Thales TCFP.PA , said he was not in favour of pursuing a joint venture in railway operations between the French defence electronics firm and transport group Alstom ALSO.PA .
Analysts have suggested Thales could be a possible partner for Alstom at a time when rivals Siemens SIEGn.DE and Bombardier BBDb.TO are eyeing a potential tie-up of their rail operations, according to sources close to the matter. Trappier, chief executive of Dassault Aviation, told Reuters that he was "not at all" in favour of a similar joint venture between Alstom and Thales, which is specialised in rail signalling rather than in train parts.
"We're still pursuing the same vision (...), which has been well defined for the past two or three years and which consists of consolidating the rail signalling unit within Thales," Trappier said on the sidelines of a news conference in Paris.
A spokesman for Thales declined to comment.