Rolls forms parts JV with France's Safran

Aerospace and defence group Rolls-Royce has formed a joint venture with Safran's Hispano-Suiza to make parts for Rolls' commercial aircraft jet engines.

Rolls said it had signed a deal with Hispano-Suiza to create a jointly-owned company to design, develop, produce and support accessory drive train transmissions (ADT) for all of Rolls-Royce's future civil aircraft engines.

The new company will capitalise on the experience of HS in design and production of ADTs and Rolls' expertise in engine design and propulsion system integration.

Based on an initial exclusive 25-year contract, the joint company will cover the entire range of civil aircraft, from business jets to widebody commercial jets. In particular, it will contribute to the Airbus A330neo, a new aircraft for which Rolls-Royce won the engine contract in July 2014 with its Trent 7000.

The new joint-venture company will be headquartered at Hispano-Suiza's site in Colombes, in the greater Paris area, and will also operate at Rolls-Royce's facilities at Derby in the UK and in Dahlewitz in Germany.

A production plant will be built in an unidentified "competitive country" starting in 2015, with the aim of starting operations in late 2016 or early 2017. The joint venture company will initially total about 180 employees, including staff from its parent companies.

"With each parent company contributing its world-class skills to this joint-venture, we have taken a major step forward in performance," said Norbert Arndt, Rolls-Royce Executive Vice President, Structures and Transmissions.

Chairman and chief executive of Hispano-Suiza, Hélène Moreau-Leroy, added: "For both Rolls-Royce and Hispano-Suiza, the creation of this joint venture marks a major step towards the consolidation of our historical relationship within a long-term partnership, and enables us to stake out a position on new aircraft programmes."

Subject to approval by regulators, the joint venture will start operation in early 2015.