4th Mar 2019 07:55
LONDON (Alliance News) - Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC has reigned in efforts to join a fighter jet programme being developed by Turkey, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
The FTSE 100-listed aerospace firm had been working with Turkish industrial company Kale Group to bid for the contract to develop the TF-X jet. The jet would have been the first locally made jet in Turkey.
The Financial Times reported senior UK officials, including Prime Minister Theresa May, had been lobbying hard for Rolls-Royce to secure the deal.
Talks between Rolls-Royce and Turkey were said to have run into issues last year over matters relating to intellectual property sharing and the involvement of a Qatari-Turkish firm. After failing to find a compromise, Rolls-Royce was reported to have "all but abandoned" its efforts to win the contract.
Rolls-Royce Chief Executive Warren East explained the firm had "substantially ramped down" its Tf-X project effort and has "been re-assigning people" to other schemes.
East told the Financial Times Rolls-Royce had "satisfied a number of conditions" to allow Turkey to produce an engine within the country.
"We’ve given what we believe is our best offer in terms of the conditions around that," East told the business newspaper.
"It is up to [the Turkish government] if they don't want to work with Rolls-Royce and want to find another solution. We are not prepared to do anything further on that."
https://www.ft.com/content/164c5ee0-3d1d-11e9-8c2f-30761f19a974
Related Shares:
Rolls-Royce