Bloomberg News reports that the European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. (EAD) CEO Tom Enders says efforts are progressing to win shareholder backing for his planned $45 billion merger with BAE Systems Plc, while mounting pressure on governments to cooperate or risk seeing a deal fall apart.
“I’m pleased with our progress so far,” Enders says in a letter to employees that was obtained by Bloomberg News. Discussions with governments to address their concerns are “constructive and advanced,” he says.
Enders’s comments are the first direct message to employees since the companies said that they plan to combine, in an attempt to create a European aerospace and defense company to match those in the United States. Enders, who has publicly criticized a creeping increase in political involvement at EADS, said the shareholder pact created in 2000 to balance French and German interests would fall by the wayside in a merger, calling that element a “go” or “no-go” for the planned combination.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will meet this weekend in Germany where they will discuss the proposal. Merkel said today she wants to overcome differences with France and “find a solution” as the governments weigh their response ahead of an Oct. 10 deadline.
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