Wed, Dec 19, 2007
Spirit AeroSystems Strikes Out
Well, so much for the rumors. On
Wednesday, board members at Airbus parent company EADS chose three
European companies as the preferred bidders for six manufacturing
sites -- flying in the face of reports from a German newspaper
stating US-based Spirit AeroSystems was likely to be awarded four
sites.
In a move likely intended to appease members of the European
consortium, the winners were instead divided amongst EADS member
states. France's Latecore SA, Germany's MT Aerospace AG and
Britain's GKN PLC will be awarded the plants, reports The
Associated Press.
"The three partners had better offers commercially and
technically, were more aggressive than Spirit in last round of
negotiations," said Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath.
The spokesman also insisted politics did not play a role in the
choice, and that both Airbus CEO Thomas Enders and EADS chief Louis
Gallois signed off on the board's choices.
Details of the sales still need to be worked out. In an official
statement, EADS said it hopes to make "substantial progress" on the
deals in the first quarter of 2008.
Five of the plants being sold are Airbus sites, while the sixth
is part of EADS Defence and Security. The plants employ 7,400
people. One of the Airbus facilities -- Britain's Filton plant --
will be sold off completely, while five other sites (Meault and
Saint-Nazaire in France, and Nordenham, Varel and Augsburg in
Germany) will be held by joint ventures between EADS and the
winning bidders.
As ANN reported, Germany's
Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper said Sunday Enders
considered Spirit AeroSystems the top candidate for four of those
sites, because of its expertise in carbon fiber technology,
an important factor in the construction of future models of
jets.
Apparently, not so much.
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