The shadow of an attendee is cast below a logo of Franco-Dutch technology firm Gemalto during a news conference in Paris February 25, 2015. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
December 18, 2017
PARIS (Reuters) – Chipmaker Gemalto <GTO.AS>, which is being taken over by aerospace and defence group Thales <TCFP.PA> will stick to a plan to cut 288 jobs in the struggling chip card business in France, its chief executive said on Monday.
“This plan is maintained. It reflects the need to trim and optimise staff that we dedicate to the SIM card business,” Philippe Vallee told BFM business radio.
He added that the company would aim to redeploy staff internally, whenever possible.
Thales on Sunday agreed to buy Gemalto for 4.8 billion euros ($5.6 billion), trumping an earlier bid by fellow French firm Atos <ATOS.PA> to expand in the fast-growing digital security market.
Union officials at Gemalto had cautioned that the announcement did not refer to the chip card business.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Stephen Coates)
