Matra BAe Dynamics was an Anglo-French 50/50 joint venture formed in August 1996 through a merger between half the missile business of France's Matra Hautes Technologies (the aerospace, defence and telecommunications division of the Matra conglomerate) and the missile activities of the UK's BAe Dynamics (a division of British Aerospace).
[1] British Aerospace had previously sought to merge its missile business with that of France's Thomson-CSF (now Thales Group).
However, after more than a year of monopoly investigations, the deal collapsed.
[2] The formation of Matra BAe Dynamics was followed in 1997 by the acquisition of a 30% share in LFK.
Matra BAe Dynamics ultimately merged with Aérospatiale Matra Missiles and the missile activities of Alenia Marconi Systems to form MBDA in December 2001.