The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) yesterday said its board and core shareholders have agreed on a new governance and shareholder structure that will cap government ownership of the company and substantially reduce, and possibly eliminate, ownership stakes by Germany’s Daimler AG and France’s Lagardere SCA.
The new structure will give the governments of France and Germany a 12 percent stake each in EADS and the government of Spain 4 percent. EADS said that Daimler and Lagardere plan to “substantially reduce their participation in EADS, either immediately or in the near future.”
“Strategy and industrial projects in the future will be solely defined and decided by the board of directors and the executive team, the operations will be managed without any outside interference from specific shareholders or shareholder concerts,” Tom Enders, CEO of EADS, said in a statement. “At the same time, the company will take care of legitimate national security interests of governments through appropriate undertakings.”
EADS said the new ownership structure will open up more of the company’s stock to be traded, increasing the free float of shares from 49 percent to more than 70 percent of the overall stock. The company also intends to repurchase up to 15 percent of its outstanding shares, subject to market conditions and shareholder approval.
“Our intention for a major share buyback next year, based on our strong liquidity position, will benefit all shareholders,” Enders said.