Staff at GEC Marconi have been promised a "very bright future" with the revelation of a £7.7bn buy out.

Jobs were said to be safe at all branches of the electronic systems company, which has bases in Basildon and Chelmsford.

British Aerospace has come forward with the finance to buy General Electric Company (GEC) Marconi.

The sale, being treated as a merger rather than a takeover, is set to make the two parties involved "bigger and stronger".

It will result in the creation of the world's third biggest aerospace company, worth around £17bn.

Richard Coltart, spokesman for Marconi, said: "This move will make Marconi much more successful. There is no reason to believe there will be job losses with this development. If anything, this is a growing exercise, not a money saving one.

"The merge will produce a bigger and stronger company which will be able to compete better internationally. The staff should look forward to being part of a giant new international company with a very bright future.

"This is being called a merge but effectively British Aerospace has bought Marconi. The electronic systems will be a department of BA. The name will stay as Marconi for now but the name may change sometime down the line."

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