Italian aerospace and defense giant Finmeccanica declared on Wednesday plans to change the company name to Leonardo, after the celebrated Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, as part of a major restructuring.

The announcement came as the company, which last month agreed to sell its rail and traffic signal businesses to Japan's Hitachi in a $2 billion deal, announced better-than-expected results for 2015. Finmeccanica said the Hitachi deal would allow it to focus on core aerospace, defense and security businesses, in line with massive restructuring efforts under a so-called "one company" plan.

"With the execution of the new organizational and operating model as 'One Company'... Finmeccanica has not only redefined its own structure to make it more consistent with customers' and market requirements... but it also aimed to redefine its identity," the group said in a statement, explaining the new name.