EADS chief Louis Gallois called on Sunday for a change in the shareholding structure of the European aerospace group by which France and Germany would give up their controlling shares.
The German government and Daimler had announced on Thursday last week reaching an agreement that allowed the car manufacturer to reduce its stake in EADS without compromising the delicate French-German balance in the group.
Gallois said that the deal, which was presented by Berlin as temporary, put an “end to uncertainty” after months of searching for private buyers for Daimler’s share.
Photo: AFP
However, “for the long term, the management of EADS has proposed a change in the capital that would help ensure a French-German equilibrium ... without the need to have controlling stakes,” he told journalists at the Dubai Airshow that opened on Sunday.
The proposed change, which would be possible in the Netherlands, where EADS is registered, would turn states “into shareholders just like the others, free to withdraw or stay in the company,” he said.
EADS’ proposal was put forward three or four months ago, Gallois said.
The German government and carmaker Daimler had announced on Thursday an agreement to transfer a 7.5 percent stake in European aerospace and defense giant EADS to Germany’s state-owned bank KfW.
The sale is slated to take place next year, after which Daimler would be reducing its stake in EADS capital from 15 percent to 7.5 percent, and its right to vote from 22.5 percent to 15 percent. It will continue to represent all German shareholders in the board.
On the French side, a 22.5 percent stake is held in two tiers by the state, through the holding group Sogepa, and another by the Lagardere group.
EADS, which makes Airbus passenger jets and European Ariane satellite launchers, was founded in 2000 from a merger of French, German and Spanish aerospace companies.
Given the high strategic importance and sensitivity of its fields of activity, France and Germany have jealously sought to maintain equal influence over EADS, with groups Daimler and Lagardere currently representing their respective interests.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last