|
Dubai state
investment fund bought a 3.12-per cent stake in the Airbus parent company EADS
earlier this year, Dubai''s state-backed aviation major Dubai Aerospace Enterprise
(DAE) has said it is interested in buying factories that European plane maker
Airbus puts up for sale. Dubai-based
airline Emirates is the biggest customer for Airbus''s new A380 super jumbo aircraft.
In a radical
restructuring plan announced earlier this year, Airbus said it would sell outright
or spin off two factories in France, four in Germany, and one in Britain, and
that another is likely to be added to the list. The
group will reveal the names of the buyers at the end of next month, though German
engineering group Voith is reported to be interested in taking over some of the
German plants. Companies
that buy the factories - either outright or partially - will become strategic
partners for the group. The sell-off is part of its ''Power8'' cost-cutting initiative,
which aims to trim costs by 30 per cent, and cut 10,000 jobs by 2010. DAE
plans to invest about $15 billion to establish its business over the next few
years. The company says it wants to do "everything related to aviation".
It is also bidding for up to 60 per cent of the company that runs Auckland International
Airport, New Zealand''s largest air hub. It
is also interested in London''s Gatwick airport. Earlier this month, it bought
two airline service providers, Standard Aero and Landmark Aviation, from US-based
investment group Carlyle Group at a cost of $1.9 billion.
|
