Thales says it has no satellite deal yet with Airbus, Leonardo after report that signing is near

France's Thales HO said on Thursday that the work to form a European satellite alliance with Aircraft maker Airbus AIR and Italy's Leonardo LDO was ongoing, responding to a media report that an agreement in principle had been found.

German newspaper Boersen-Zeitung reported on Thursday that the three aerospace groups had come to an understanding but added that the signing of an outline deal would take place over the next few days, citing unspecified sources familiar with the matter.

The project, dubbed "Bromo", is designed to help the prospective partners to compete more effectively with Elon Musk's Starlink.

Airbus was not immediately available for comment. Leonardo declined to comment.

Reuters reported last month that the three groups had redoubled efforts to combine their satellite businesses into a 10 billion-euro ($11.7 billion), French-headquartered joint venture and are working towards hammering out an initial agreement in coming weeks.

Airbus Defence and Space CEO Michael Schoellhorn has since said the project was on track but several issues had yet to be clarified.