SAFRAN BACKED INTO A CORNER OVER BID

Today Safran will be forced to declare its intentions over a possible bid for aerospace supplier Zodiac after the French financial market authority ordered the aero-engine and defence group to end the uncertainty by the end of this morning. During the summer months of 2010 Safran made a series of public statements saying that it wanted to discuss a deal with Zodiac. This caused Zodiac shares to turn volatile. If Safran decided to make a bid, an offer timetable would have to be worked out with the regulator at the soonest opportunity. If on the other hand it states clearly