In 1996, Thomson Marconi Sonar was formed by the merger of the sonar systems businesses of French defence electronics specialist Thomson-CSF and British company GEC-Marconi after the payment of a balance by the latter. It was 50.1% owned by Thomson-CSF and 49.9% by GEC-Marconi. Denis Ranque was appointed as CEO of the joint venture. The new company would head 3 operational entities:
