December 10, 2003 – Italy’s Finmeccanica is pondering selling more than half of its 17.7% stake in STMicroelectronics in order to pursue acquisitions in the US, according to reports. In an interview with the German daily Handelsblatt, Finmeccanica chairman Francesco Guarguaglini said the company could pull back as much as $2.5 billion from its STMicro investment to help finance potential acquisitions in the US space, aviation, and telecommunications sectors, but provided no timeframe for any deals.