PARIS (Reuters) - The chief executive of France's Safran (>> SAFRAN) said the profitability of Zodiac Aerospace (>> Zodiac Aerospace) was "far from satisfactory" for now, as he outlined the benefits of a two-part friendly deal to take over the French aircraft seats maker.

CEO Philippe Petitcolin also said ramping up production of Safran's new LEAP aircraft engine remained "extremely challenging" and that there would be no shift in the company's industrial priorities as a result of the deal.

Zodiac Aerospace Chairman Didier Domange told a news conference the company had not sought alternative offers and blamed the failure to agree on an earlier informal offer by Safran in 2010 on differences of business culture at the time.

Asked separately whether the takeover would improve industrial performance at Zodiac, whose delays in seat production have delayed delivery of some jets, a spokesman for planemaker Airbus (>> Airbus Group) said "We will see".

(Reporting by Tim Hepher and Cyril Altmeyer; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)

Stocks treated in this article : Airbus Group, SAFRAN, Zodiac Aerospace