(Reuters) -European aerospace groups Airbus, Thales and Leonardo are nearing an agreement on the merger of their space businesses, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Under the deal, Airbus will own 35%, with the other two holding 32.5% each, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter.

Airbus is expected to receive a payment from its new partners as compensation for limiting its stake to 35 per cent despite its unit accounting for roughly half of the total turnover, the FT reported.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Airbus, Thales and Leonardo did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Reuters reported in September that the three European airspace groups had redoubled efforts to combine their satellite businesses into a 10 billion-euro ($11.66 billion) French-headquartered joint venture, dubbed "Project Bromo".

The board of Italy's Leonardo held a crucial meeting on Tuesday to review a tentative deal to forge a new European satellite manufacturer with its existing partner Thales and rival Airbus, Reuters reported earlier in the day.

A potential deal could mark the latest attempt to tie together fragmented European assets and draw inspiration from a decision by France, Italy and Britain to set up the MBDA missiles venture in 2001.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)

(Reporting by Anusha Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Anil D'Silva)