Thales denies wrongdoing as Anglo-French bribery probe hits shares

PARIS, Nov 24 (Reuters): French defence and technology firm Thales said on Friday it was denying allegations brought to its attention after Britain's Serious Fraud Office announced a joint investigation with French authorities into suspected bribery and corruption.
Thales, which is Europe's largest defence technology firm, said the probe by the SFO and France's PNF financial prosecutor concerned a contract in Asia and focused on four entities in France and the UK, without giving further details.
"Thales denies the allegations brought to its knowledge," the company said in a statement.
It did not give any further details of the allegations or say when it first learned of them, or how. It also did not say whether it was conducting its own internal probe. The company said in a recent corporate report that it has "zero tolerance" of corruption.
Shares in partially state-owned Thales fell as much as 7 per cent but recovered most of the losses to end the day down 2.9 per cent.
A Thales spokesperson said the company was cooperating with the authorities in the investigation and always complied with national and international laws.
A French judicial source told Reuters earlier that the probe related to an arms contract in Asia, centred on possible charges of bribery of a foreign public official, influence trafficking, handling stolen goods and money laundering.
Two people familiar with the case said it at least partially involved a business deal in Indonesia. Indonesia's London embassy could not be reached by telephone and did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. The SFO declined any comment beyond its late Thursday announcement.
"At this point, the related contract under investigation remains unknown, making any potential assessment of the risk challenging," Jefferies analysts said in a note.