DaimlerChrysler sells part stake in EADS for $1.95 billion

10 February 2007

Mumbai: German carmaker DaimlerChrysler AG has sold a third of its stake in European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. (EADS), the parent of planemaker Airbus, for 1.5 billion euros ($1.95 billion) to raise cash and reorganise Chrysler.

Stuttgart, Germany-based DaimlerChrysler sold 7.5 per cent of EADS, which also makes missiles and fighter jets, and retained 15 per cent, the company said in a statement.

DaimlerChrysler said it placed its entire 22.5 per cent equity stake in EADS into a new company, in which the consortium of investors will acquire a one-third interest through a special-purpose vehicle.

The acquisition, which was backed by the government, was made bay German banks and states. Private investors included Allianz SE, Commerzbank AG, Credit Suisse Group, Deutsche Bank AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc, each acquiring 10 per cent of the shares in the SPV, as well as Morgan Stanley and Sal. Oppenheim Jr. & Cie., acquiring 5 per cent each.

The public-sector investors include KfW Group, Germany's state-owned development bank, with 13 per cent of the SPV, Hamburg with 10 per cent, Lower Saxony with 5 per cent, two Bavarian state lenders with 3.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent each, two public banks in Baden-Wuerttemberg with 2.5 per cent each, and Bremen with 2 per cent.

The German states buying into EADS are those where Airbus has production facilities in Germany.